The Haryana Assembly elections will be held in a single phase on October 1 . The announcement was made by the Election Commission on Friday afternoon alongside dates for the much anticipated Jammu and Kashmir polls. Votes for both elections will be counted simultaneously on October 4.
According to the timeline shared by the poll body, a gazette notification will be issued on September 9. Nominations must be submitted by September 12 with the next day allocated as the final date for scrutiny of nominations. The polls will be held on October 1 (Tuesday) with votes being counted in the same week on Friday.
Haryana is likely to see a four-way contest between the BJP, the Congress, the JJP and the AAP. The term of the current government will end on November 3.
The BJP had secured 40 seats in the 2019 polls to form a coalition government with the JJP. The The Dushyant Chautala-led Jannayak Janta Party holds 10 seats in the 90-member assembly. The BJP-JJP alliance broke earlier this year.
The ruling BJP is likely to stress on the "clean image" of Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini and his predecessor Manohar Lal Khattar as well as the "transparent administration" provided by the state government. The party also has the added advantage of being in power at the Centre, which allows it to pitch to voters its “double-engine capability” — a promise of more development if the governments at the Centre and the state are run by the same party.
Meanwhile a resurgent Congress is looking to cash in on the anti-incumbency factor.
The Election Commission is also slated to announce the schedule for the assembly elections to the 288-member Maharashtra legislative assembly in the coming weeks. Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said the dates would be announced later due to security requirements for Jammu and Kashmir.
(With inputs from agencies)
