ECI to announce schedule for Assembly elections today

The Election Commission of India (ECI) will announce the schedule for assembly elections on Friday at around 3 pm. 

Elections are due in Haryana, Maharashtra and the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The poll body will announce the schedule for Haryana and J-K today. The election commission could also list the dates for the Maharashtra state polls. The schedule will include dates of filing of nominations, polling and declaration of results.

On August 14, The Election Commission held a meeting with Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla to review the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir. In December last year, the Supreme Court directed the central government to conclude the election process in the Union territory by September 30, 2024. 

Jammu and Kashmir will witness elections after a gap of ten years as the last assembly election was held in 2014. The PDP-BJP coalition government fell in June 2018 when the latter withdrew support to the then-Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti. Recently, a poll body delegation led by Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar reviewed the poll preparations in J&K.

During a press conference in Jammu during the visit, Kumar had emphasised that the commission is committed to holding elections there "at the earliest". The term of the current government in Haryana will end on November 3, 2024, and elections are scheduled on 90 legislative assembly constituencies in the state.

After the 2019 Elections, the BJP with 40 seats in the 90-member assembly formed a coalition government with the JJP. The JJP had won 10 seats while the Congress had won 31 seats. The BJP-JJP alliance broke earlier this year. In 2024, Haryana is likely to see a four-way contest between the BJP, the Congress, the JJP and the AAP. 

The 288-member Maharashtra legislative assembly the tenure of the current government ends in October 2024. The Maharashtra election will see a two-way fight between the Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition, of the UBT Sean, NCP -Sharad Pawar and the Congress, and the Maha Yuti Alliance of the BJP, Shiv Sena-Eknath Shinde and NCP-Ajit Pawar.

In 2019 the BJP and undivided Sena coalition came to power in the state but later split