Assembly Elections Dates: The Election Commission will announce the dates of assembly elections in four states today. The Election Commission will announce the assembly elections for Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir. Apart from this, the Election Commission can also announce the election dates for Jharkhand and Maharashtra. The Election Commission will hold an important press conference today at 3 pm in which the election schedule for Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir will be announced. Assembly elections will be held for the first time after the removal of 370 from Jammu and Kashmir. The Commission had completed its tour of Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana only last week.

Press conference at 3 p.m.

The Election Commission has invited the media for a press conference at around 3 pm but has not disclosed the election schedule for which states it will announce. The term of the assemblies of Haryana and Maharashtra is ending on November 3 and November 26 respectively. The Election Commission also plans to hold assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir before September 30. This deadline has been set by the Supreme Court. The Commission recently visited Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana to review the election preparations but has not visited Maharashtra yet.

The commission had reviewed the election preparations in Jammu and Kashmir

The Election Commission reviewed the election preparations in Jammu and Kashmir last week. Addressing a press conference in Jammu, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar had stressed that the Commission is committed to holding assembly elections in the Union Territory as soon as possible. Kumar said that no external or internal force can derail the election process. After record voting in Jammu and Kashmir in the Lok Sabha elections, Kumar had said, this active participation is a very big positive for the assembly elections to be held soon, so that the democratic process continues in the Union Territory.

Election Commission's visit to Haryana

A team of the Election Commission led by Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar arrived in the state on August 12 on a two-day visit to review the preparations for the assembly elections in Haryana. Haryana Assembly elections are to be held later this year. The Commission reviewed the election preparations by holding meetings with representatives of political parties, district election officers, and senior officials. The Election Commission issued guidelines to enforcement agencies to increase monitoring and vigilance across the state. Apart from this, the Commission held a meeting with the Chief Secretary, Director General of Police, other administrative secretaries, and senior police officers to review other arrangements.

First election in Jammu and Kashmir after Article 370

Whenever assembly elections are held in Jammu and Kashmir, it will be the first election after most provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution were repealed in 2019 and the then state was divided into two union territories. The electoral process in Jammu and Kashmir usually lasts for a month. After the delimitation exercise, the number of assembly seats has increased from 83 to 90, excluding the seats allotted for Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

The Supreme Court had given instructions to conduct elections by December 30

Last December, the Supreme Court had directed the Election Commission to hold assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir by September 30. In a fresh indication that assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir are imminent, the Election Commission last month asked the Union Territory administration to transfer officers posted in their home districts, an exercise that is done before holding elections.

The important decision of the Election Commission

The Commission has consistently followed the policy that officers directly connected with the conduct of elections in the poll-bound State or Union Territory should not be posted in their home districts or places where they have been working for a long time. It is common for the Election Commission to issue directions regarding the transfer of officers before Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. Recently it had ordered the updating of voter lists in Jammu and Kashmir and three other states.