Why Election Commission decoupled Assembly elections in Maharashtra, Haryana

The Assembly elections in Maharashtra and Haryana have been decoupled for the first time in 15 years. According to the Election Commission, while there are many factors that influenced the decision to stagger the polls, it has been done primarily because of the security requirements that would have to be met to hold Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir.

The Election Commission on Friday announced the polling schedule for Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana, keeping the announcement of polls in Maharashtra for a little later. In the last three state elections, the polls were announced for Haryana and Maharashtra together.

According to the schedule, polling will be held in Jammu and Kashmir in three phases – September 18 and 25, and October 1. Haryana will all go to polls on October 1 while the counting of votes will be held for both the states on October 4.

Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, in response to a media query at the press conference to announce the election schedule, said it is true that the polls in Maharashtra and Haryana have been announced together earlier, but the new addition to the mix, the elections in Jammu and Kashmir, have necessitated a staggering of polls.

Kumar pointed out that the upcoming election season comprises five elections, starting with Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir and ending with Delhi in early 2025. He said Maharashtra could not be announced with Haryana this time because of the requirement of security forces in Jammu and Kashmir.

“Last time, Maharashtra and Haryana Assembly elections were held together. At that time, J&K was not a factor, but this time, there are four elections this year and the fifth election immediately after this, which is to start with J&K, Haryana, Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Delhi. Depending on the requirement of forces, we have decided to conduct two elections together,” he said. 

The Commission, Kumar said, also took into account various other factors such as the torrential rains this monsoon season in Maharashtra due to which the preliminary work at the booth level has not taken place. The festival season which includes Ganeshotsav, Pitripaksh, Navratra and Diwali has also been considered as a factor.

He pointed out that the term of the Haryana Assembly ends on November 3, while that of Maharastra gets over on November 26, and hence there is time in hand to hold polls in the western state. Meanwhile, the CEC said in response to another question that bye-elections to 47 Assembly seats and one Lok Sabha seat, Wayanad, are due and would soon be announced. He said the Commission was waiting for the weather conditions to settle down before the dates of the by-polls are declared. He pointed out that Wayanad in particular has been devastated by intense rains that resulted in landslides.