The Election Commission of India on Tuesday said that the Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir will be announced after the Amarnath Yatra 2019. The 46-day-long Hindu yatra will commence from July 1 and the last batch of the devotees will leave the holy cave by August 15. After which, the Elections Commission will announce the dates for voting in Jammu and Kashmir. According to the reports, the Election Commission may schedule Jammu and Kashmir elections with Haryana, Maharashtra and Jharkhand.
In a statement, Elections Commission said, Under the Article 324 and other extant laws, the poll governing body has unanimously decided to hold the Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir by later this year. The commission is monitoring the situation in Jammu and Kashmir and after the conclusion of Amarnath Yatra, the confirmed dates for Assembly elections will be announced.
Currently, Presidential rule is being imposed in Jammu and Kashmir since June 2018.
The state has been without an elected government since last year when PDP-BJP alliance was split. The Jammu and Kashmir assembly was dissolved in November 2018 by Governor Satya Pal Malik.
Later, People Democratic Party (PDP), National Conference (NC) and Congress had tried to form the government in the state and had also approached the Governor, but the alliance failed to form the government in the valley.
In another development today, former Jammu and Kashmir CM and chief of National Conference (NC) Farooq Abdullah announced that break the alliance with Congress in the state. Abdullah said the NC will contest the upcoming Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Elections alone which are likely to be held later this year.
