The Election Commission of India announced the schedule for elections to the legislative assemblies of Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana on Friday.
Polling will be held in 90 Assembly seats of Jammu and Kashmir in three phases on September 18, September 25 and October 1, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar announced at a press conference called by the Election Commission of India.
Haryana, on the other hand will see polling in a single phase on October 5. The results for both Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana will be declared on October 8.
EC had earlier announced that Haryana will vote on October 1. However, the date was postponed to October 5 amid concerns over several holidays in and around the original voting day.
The announcement for Jammu and Kashmir is in line with the Supreme Court's directive to the ECI to conclude elections in the Union Territory by September 30.
This is the first time that Jammu and Kashmir will see Assembly elections after the abrogation of Article 370. The last Assembly elections held in 2014 saw the Mehbooba Mufti-led People's Democratic Party form a government with the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The elections in Haryana will see the Congress square off against the ruling BJP in 90 Assembly seats of the state. The Aam Aadmi Party has also announced that it will contest elections on all seats this time. The term of the Haryana Assembly ends on November 3.
"ECI stands steadfast in its resolve to ensure that elections happen in a festive atmosphere with all basic facilities in place for voters. We urge all voters to step out and take part in the democratic festivities," CEC Kumar said while announcing the poll schedule.
A three-member delegation of the EC held comprehensive reviews of the security preparedness in Jammu and Kashmir as well as Haryana ahead of the announcement of the poll schedule.
The security situation in Jammu and Kashmir was a point of concern in view of the rise in terror-related incidents over the past months. However, CEC Kumar maintained that the security forces are capable enough of handling any threat and appealed to voters to step out in large numbers and participate in this festival of democracy.
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