Election Commission may conduct polls for seven Assemblies along with General Elections

New Delhi, Dec 4: The Election Commission of India may hold Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Maharashtra and Haryana along with the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Tenure of Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh will get over by June, 2019.

Sources in the Election Commission said that tenure of these four Assemblies is getting over in May-June 2019 so elections in these state will be held with the Lok Sabha as was the case on earlier occasions. There is also a possibility that elections in Jammu and Kashmir can also be held along with the Lok Sabha elections which was dissolved in November, 2018.

An official in the election commission said that elections for Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh will be held as per schedule but elections in the BJP-ruled Maharashtra and Haryana can be brought little early. It will also be necessary to hold elections in Jammu and Kashmir within six months. The official said that the deadline for that is getting over by the end of May 2019. The election commission might hold election of Jammu and Kashmir along with general elections but for security reasons, they can be held even earlier.

Another official of the election said that if the election commission holds Assembly elections of Haryana and Maharashtra along with the General elections then there will be no other election in 2019. The BJP is ruling both the states. If the state government decides to dissolve Assembly six months earlier, elections in these states can be conducted along with the Lok Sabha.

The tenure of Jammu and Kashmir Assembly is six years unlike rest of the states that have five years'. The tenure of the dissolved Assembly was up to March 16, 2021. Similarly Andhra Pradesh June 18, Odisha June 11, Arunachal Pradesh June 1 and Sikkim May 27, 2019.