Assembly Poll Dates Announced For J&K, Haryana

The Election Commission has announced assembly polls in Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir, marking the first major political battle following the Lok Sabha elections.

The Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections are significant as they will be held for the first time in a decade and after the scrapping of the region's special status. In this state, the election will be held in three phases - on September 18, September 25, and October 1, while polls to elect 90 members of the Haryana Legislative Assembly will be held in a single phase on October 1, with results to be announced, for both the states, on October 4, the Election Commission said Friday afternoon.

In preparation for the election, the EC said, the final voter list would be published by August 20, the day after the Amarnath Yatra ends. Around 87 lakh voters, he said, are expected to vote. "The people want change... they want to script a new future," Election Commission chief Rajiv Kumar said, as he outlined the poll body's plans to hold a safe and successful election in J&K.

In December last year, the top court had directed the Election Commission to hold Assembly polls by September 30 of this year. The court was hearing petitions challenging the scrapping of Article 370 and the bifurcation of J&K into the union territories of J&K and Ladakh.

The court upheld the Article 370 decision but said steps should be taken for J&K to have a democratically elected government and for restoration of its statehood at the earliest.