New Delhi: The Election Commission (EC) is likely to hold the Assembly elections in Delhi and Jharkhand simultaneously in December, said highly placed sources. The EC, however, announced on Saturday the schedule for Assembly elections in Maharashtra and Haryana.
According to sources, the elections for the Delhi Assembly are likely to be clubbed with Jharkhand, where the tenure of the Assembly expires on 5 January next year. The term of the Delhi Assembly expires on 22 February next year. However, sources said that there is a strong possibility that the Delhi elections may be advanced and clubbed with Jharkhand. The sources said the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which is power in Delhi, is prepared for early elections.
In 2014, elections were held in Jharkhand in five phases between 25 November and 20 December, while the results were announced on 23 December. However, for Delhi Assembly, the elections were held on 7 February 2015 to elect 70 members. The AAP had won 67 seats.
Polling for the Maharashtra and Haryana Assemblies will be held on 21 October and results will be declared on 24 October. While the term of the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly ends on 9 November, that of the 90-member Haryana Assembly expires on 2 November.
With today’s announcement, the Mode Code of Conduct (MOC) has come into effect in two states.
Speaking to media persons, Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora also announced the schedule of by-elections for one Lok Sabha constituency (Samastipur, Bihar) and 64 Assembly constituencies in various states.
Arora said the notification for the Assembly elections would be issued on 27 September. He said that the last date for filing nominations is 4 October, while the deadline for withdrawing them is 7 October. However, for the bypolls, notification will be issued on 23 September, while voting will be held on 21 October. The results will be declared on 24 October.
This will be the first Assembly elections since the BJP-led NDA returned to power for the second consecutive term in May this year.
Sources said the schedule for the Assembly elections in Jharkhand would be announced at a later stage.
In 2014, the EC had announced the dates for Maharashtra and Haryana on 12 September. The voting had taken place on 15 October and results were declared on 19 October. However, in case of Jharkhand, elections were held in five phases between 25 November and 20 December, while the results were announced on 23 December.
The EC had held a meeting earlier this week to discuss preparations for the Assembly elections in three states. An EC team visited Mumbai to take stock of the situation there. Sources said the BJP and Shiv Sena will contest the polls together. The alliance will be formally announced next week when BJP president Amit Shah visits Mumbai on 22 September. A BJP source said that the seat-sharing formula is being finalised.
In 2014, BJP and Shiv Sena had contested the Assembly elections separately after they failed to arrive at a seat-sharing formula. However, after the BJP formed the government in October 2014, the Sena joined the ministry the same year. Early this year, the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance won 41 out of 48 Lok Sabha seats.