The major reason for separating the poll schedule for Haryana and Maharashtra is the gap of more than four weeks in their assembly terms ending, News18 has learnt. The poll body is likely to announce the schedule for Maharashtra in October, after completing the elections in J&K and Haryana the same month
Back in 2014, the Election Commission of India (ECI) completed the polls to the assemblies of Haryana and Maharashtra on October 19, Sunday, and by the next Saturday, October 25, it announced the schedule for Jharkhand and Jammu & Kashmir. A similar practice could be expected this time also, although the pairing of states will change.
Unlike 2009, 2014, or 2019, Haryana and Maharashtra will not have the same schedule for assembly polls. Haryana this time is clubbed with Jammu and Kashmir for elections, as per the schedule announced by the poll body on Friday.
The major reason for separating the poll schedule for the two states is the gap of more than four weeks in their assembly terms ending, News18 has learnt. The poll body is likely to announce the schedule for Maharashtra in October, after completing the elections in J&K and Haryana the same month.
Speaking to News18, an Election Commission official, seeking anonymity, explained that the term of the Haryana assembly is ending on November 3. Ideally, as followed by the poll body, elections are completed in a state just a few days before the term ends.
“So, to complete the election in Haryana before November 3, the announcement had to be somewhere around the end of September, while the elections in J&K were underway,” said the official.
Even Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar, in his address, said that the ECI “cannot announce another election while the polls in J&K are underway”.
And it was better for the ease of working that the poll body clubbed the two elections. Speaking to News18, the official also explained that elections in a state can be held anywhere between six months before and six months after the date of expiry of the existing assembly. However, in most cases, the ECI tries to hold elections and announce the results a little before the term ends.
What happened in the past
Citing examples and history of these states, the official added that in 2009, the two states went for polls together as the Haryana assembly was dissolved in August, some seven months before the expiry of its term. The term of the Maharashtra assembly was to end in November 2009. The two states had single-phase polling on October 13 and the results were announced on October 22.
In 2014, the term of the Haryana assembly was to end on October 27 and for Maharashtra, it was on November 8, a gap of 12 days. The elections were held on October 15 and the results were declared on October 19.
Further, in 2014, the elections were also held for Jammu and Kashmir and Jharkhand. The term of the J&K assembly was to end on January 19, 2015, and that of Jharkhand on January 3, 2015. The elections were held in five phases between November 25, 2014, and December 20, 2014, with counting of votes on December 23, 2014.
Recalling the 2014 schedule, the official added that the date before which elections had to be completed in Haryana and Maharashtra was October 22. On October 25, the schedule for Jammu & Kashmir and Jharkhand was announced.
In 2019, the elections in Jammu and Kashmir were not held. For Haryana and Maharashtra, the elections were held on October 21, 2019, and the counting on October 24, 2019. The term of the Haryana assembly was to end on November 2 and that for Maharashtra was on November 9 – a seven-day gap.
“The term of the Haryana assembly is ending on November 3 and for Maharashtra, it is November 26. This time the gap is 23 days between the completion of terms of the assemblies. There will be time to hold elections in Maharashtra after the process is completed in Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana. Both Maharashtra and Jharkhand will need additional security while that was not the case with Haryana, which was also seeing completion of term first,” the official explained.
The poll body will hold elections in Maharashtra before the term ends, the official assured. It is also important to note that all the 288 seats in the Maharashtra assembly have witnessed single-day polling in the last couple of elections.
The elections in J&K will be held in three phases from September 18. October 1 will be the third phase of polling in J&K as well as single-phase voting in Haryana. The counting of votes will be done on October 4. The elections, in both Haryana and J&K, will have to be completed before October 6.
Haryana and J&K
The ECI on Friday announced the schedule for assembly polls in Jammu & Kashmir and Haryana. When asked about not including Maharashtra in the cycle, CEC Kumar said that the state is witnessing rains and has a lot of festivals in the coming weeks. He also said that Jammu and Kashmir would require a lot of forces.
Apart from the fact that it is a border state that is sensitive, all the candidates in Jammu and Kashmir have to be given protective cover. So, the deployment has to be higher and enough. Kumar, while announcing the dates on Friday, assured that security to candidates will be provided.
Responding to media queries after announcing the dates for Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir, Kumar said that earlier Jammu and Kashmir was not a factor but now it is. It is important to note that the Supreme Court has given a deadline of September 30 to complete the election process in the newly formed UT. The ECI is going a few days beyond.
Kumar said that in the next few months, elections have to be held in five states/UTs – Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, and Delhi.
“…depending on the requirements of forces, which are in a higher tone in J&K, we decided to hold two elections together…There are a lot of other factors too. Due to rains in Maharashtra, the BLOs could not complete the work,” he said.
Kumar added that Ganesh Chaturthi (September 7), Pitrapaksh (September 17 to October 2), Navratri (October 3 to October 12), and Diwali (October 31/ November 1) will also affect election scheduling in Maharashtra.
