Maharashtra Assembly Polls 'Postponed', Election Commission Says “Will Need More Time For Preparation"

The Election Commission of India on Friday (August 16) announced the schedule for the conducting elections to the legislature of the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir followed by voting for the state assembly of Haryana.

“Polling in Jammu and Kashmir will be conducted in three phases, that is on September 18, September 25 and October 1. The polling in Haryana will be conducted in a single phase on October 1, coinciding with the last phase of polling in Jammu and Kashmir.

“Counting of votes cast for both, that is Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana will be done on October 4,” Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar said.

It was widely expected that the polling schedule for the Maharashtra state assembly elections too would be announced along with that of the two northern states. However, it is now evident that the elections in the western state have now been postponed and will be mostly likely held later this year in November.

“In 2019 when polls for the state assemblies of Haryana and Maharashtra were conducted together in October, we did not have the task of conducting polls in Jammu and Kashmir at hand. We are conducting polls there in three phases and it will require deployment of a considerable amount of human and technical resources.

“Also, since the start of this year, apart from the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, we have also conducted state assembly elections in four states. So we are trying to ensure that the EC staff does not come under stress,” CEC Kumar said.

“In case of Maharashtra assembly polls, we will need some time for preparation since we have to complete a lot of ground work which has been delayed due to monsoon. Plus, there are several festivals such as Ganeshotsav, Navratri and Dipawali between September to October this year, so schedule for a large state like Maharashtra will have to be worked accordingly,” CEC Kumar added.