Election Commission to announce schedule for Assembly elections at 3 pm
Election Commission of India, is likely to announce the schedule for upcoming Assembly elections in three states at 3pm today. India's election authority on Friday morning announced in a release that it would hold a press conference «to announce the schedule for General Election to Legislative Assemblies.»
Elections are expected to be held for the legislative assemblies of Maharashtra, Haryana and Jharkhand in 2024, with the five-year terms of these states coming to an end. The BJP currently governs Haryana independently and leads a coalition government in Maharashtra, with the support of the Eknath Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena. In Jharkhand, power rests with the Soren family-led Jharkhand Mukti Morcha-Congress alliance.
The BJP is expected to announce the first list of assembly candidates for all three states later this month, sources informed ET. The party is reportedly preparing to reveal 30-35 candidates for Maharashtra, around 20 for Haryana, and 25 for Jharkhand.
Maharashtra is likely to cause a dilemma for the Narendra Modi-led BJP with the party required to take alliance partners Shiv Sena and the Ajit Pawar-led NCP into confidence. The saffron party is unlikely to have any issues in announcing tickets in Haryana and Jharkhand as it will likely contest most of the seats in these two states.
Reports suggest that the poll body could also announce dates for elections in the union territory of Jammu & Kashmir, with the region not having seen polls since 2014.
The UT's government was dissolved in 2018
