The Chief Election Commissioner, Rajiv Kumar, announced the schedule for the election to constitute a new legislative assembly in Haryana and in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir in New Delhi on 16 August 2024.
While the election in Jammu and Kashmir will be held in three phases due to the security situation, the election in Haryana will take place in a single phase on 1 October.
According to the Election Commission, the counting of votes of both the assemblies will take place on 4 October 2024.
Both Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana have a 90-member Legislative Assembly.
For the first time, seats have been reserved for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in Jammu and Kashmir, as per the provisions of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act 2019.
Seven seats are reserved for Scheduled Castes and nine for Scheduled Tribes.
In Haryana, 17 seats are reserved for Scheduled Castes and there is no reservation for the Scheduled Tribes.
With the announcement of the election schedule, the model code of conduct has come into force in Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir. It will remain in force until the election results are announced.
The legislative assembly election in the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir will take place after 10 years. The last assembly election was held in 2014 when it had the status of a state.
On 31 October 2019, under the provisions of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act 2019, the status of Jammu and Kashmir was changed form a state to that of a Union Territory. It was bifurcated into two—the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and the Union Territory of Ladakh.
Article 370 of the constitution, which gave the state of Jammu and Kashmir a special status, was also abrogated under the 2019 act.
Jammu and Kashmir have been under the president's rule since the fall of the PDP-BJP coalition government in 2018.
Supreme Court in December last year had directed the Election Commission to conclude the election process in the region by 30th September 2024.
Due to the security situation, the election will be held in three phases in Jammu and Kashmir.
First Phase-18th September in Pulwama, Anantnag, Shopian, Kulgam, Ramban, Kishtwar, Doda region.
Second Phase- 25 September in Srinagar, Ganderbal, Poonch, Rajouri, Reasi region.
Third Phase – 1 October in North Kashmir, Udhampur, Jammu and Kathua region.
According to the Election Commission of India, there are 87.09 lakh voters in Jammu and Kashmir, of which 44.46 lakh are males and 42.62 lakh are females. The first-time voters are 3.71 lakh.
The election to constitute the 15th Haryana Legislative Assembly will be held on 1 October 2024. All the 90 seats will go to the poll on 1 October 2024.
There are 2,03,00,255 voters in Haryana, which includes 4,70,460 first-time voters.
The term of the present 14th Haryana legislative assembly ends on 3 November 2024.