EC to visit Jharkhand, Maharashtra next week to review poll preparations

While the Jharkhand Assembly’s term ends on January 5, 2025, the Maharashtra Assembly’s term is till November 26, which means elections have to be completed before that date.

While the EC is yet to take a decision, the sources said there is a possibility of the two elections being held simultaneously. In the past three election cycles, the poll panel had scheduled the Maharashtra and Haryana Assembly polls together. This time, however, while announcing the Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir elections, the EC decided not to schedule the Maharashtra polls at the same time.

Polling in the three-phase J&K elections started on September 18, with the next two phases scheduled for September 25 and October 1. Polling in Haryana will be held on October 5. Votes will be counted in both states on October 8.

Asked why the Maharashtra elections had been decoupled from the elections to the Haryana Assembly, whose term ends on November 3, the CEC said the J&K elections had not been a factor in previous election cycles. The EC is holding Assembly elections in J&K for the first time in 10 years and, as per a Supreme Court order, the polls had to be conducted before September 30.

“Depending on the requirement of forces, which is on a higher tone in J&K, we have decided to hold two elections together. We cannot announce another election while we have announced J&K and when it is ongoing. There are other factors too. There was rain in Maharashtra. The booth-level officers  are yet to complete their work and there are many festivals which we have to consider when making the schedule, like Ganesh festival, Pitru Paksha, Navratri and Diwali,” the CEC had said at the press conference to announce the Haryana and J&K polls.