Editor's Pick | EC begins work on polls in J&K and three States

The Election Commission (EC) has kicked off preparations for holding Assembly elections in Haryana, Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir by updating electoral rolls in these States. The terms of the existing legislative Assemblies will end on November 3 (Haryana), November 26 (Maharashtra) and January 5, 2025 (Jharkhand) and polls are required to be conducted before the completion of their terms. Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir are also to be conducted for constituting a new House after delimitation of constituencies, the EC said in a statement on Friday. “Witnessing the huge participation of the people of Jammu and Kashmir in the recent Lok Sabha elections, the commission has also directed for updating electoral rolls in the Union Territory with July 1, 2024 as the qualifying date,” the statement said. In December last year, the Supreme Court had directed the poll body to hold Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir by September 30. On Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Assembly polls would be held soon in Jammu and Kashmir and that plans were also afoot to restore Statehood to the Union Territory. J&K has been under spells of Governor’s Rule and President’s Rule since June 20, 2018 and without a Legislative Assembly. After the Supreme Court verdict last December, The Hindu had noted in an editorial that “restoration of statehood is an important measure as this guarantees a degree of federal autonomy to the province, that should allow the elected government to be able to better address the concerns of the electorate than depend on the representatives of the Union government.” Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said recently that the poll body would soon initiate the process of holding Assembly polls in the Union Territory after witnessing the enthusiastic response during the Lok Sabha polls. The EC had said the combined voter turnout at the polling stations for the entire Union Territory with five Lok Sabha seats was 58.46%, the highest in 35 years. It will be the first Assembly polls since the abrogation of Article 370 and the bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories. The poll body said July 1 would be the qualifying date for the electoral rolls update. The pre-update exercise will begin on June 25 to set up or rationalise polling stations at locations most convenient to electors in group housing societies, slums, city outgrowths and rural areas. The final electoral rolls will be published on August 20. Announcing its readiness for the upcoming polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party has stated that Union Ministers Bhupendra Yadav and Ashwini Vaishnaw will be election in-charge of Maharashtra; their Cabinet colleagues Dharmendra Pradhan and Tripura MP Biplab Deb of Haryana; Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma will be in charge of Jharkhand; and Union Minister G. Kishen Reddy will be in charge of Jammu and Kashmir. The Opposition Congress, buoyed by the Lok Sabha showing, will hold a series of strategy meetings next week for Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir where Assembly polls are expected later this year. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former party chief Rahul Gandhi will meet leaders from Jharkhand on June 24 to discuss the party’s election preparedness in the State and it will be followed by a meeting with leaders from Maharashtra the next day. On June 26, Haryana Congress leaders will have their meeting with Mr. Kharge and Mr. Gandhi while J&K leaders will meet them a day later. The Hindu’s Editorials Testing times: On the need to mend the National Testing Agency New Cold War: On the Russia-North Korea security pact, its likely fallout The Hindu’s Daily Quiz Which exam was cancelled by the Education Ministry on Wednesday, amidst suspicions that the integrity of the exam had been compromised? CUET UGC-NET NEET UPSC prelims To know the answer and to play the full quiz, click here. [logo] Editor's Pick 22 June 2024 [The Hindu logo] [EP Logo] Editor's Pick 22 June 2024 In the Editor's Pick newsletter, The Hindu explains why a story was important enough to be carried on the front page of today's edition of our newspaper. [View in browser]( [More newsletters]( EC begins work on polls in J&K and three States [The Election Commission (EC) has kicked off preparations for holding Assembly elections in Haryana, Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir]( by updating electoral rolls in these States. The terms of the existing legislative Assemblies will end on November 3 (Haryana), November 26 (Maharashtra) and January 5, 2025 (Jharkhand) and polls are required to be conducted before the completion of their terms. Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir are also to be conducted for constituting a new House after delimitation of constituencies, the EC said in a statement on Friday. “Witnessing the huge participation of the people of Jammu and Kashmir in the recent Lok Sabha elections, the commission has also directed for updating electoral rolls in the Union Territory with July 1, 2024 as the qualifying date,” the statement said. In December last year, the Supreme Court had directed the poll body to hold Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir by September 30. On Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Assembly polls would be held soon in Jammu and Kashmir and that plans were also afoot to restore Statehood to the Union Territory. J&K has been under spells of Governor’s Rule and President’s Rule since June 20, 2018 and without a Legislative Assembly. After the Supreme Court verdict last December, The Hindu had noted in an [editorial]( that “restoration of statehood is an important measure as this guarantees a degree of federal autonomy to the province, that should allow the elected government to be able to better address the concerns of the electorate than depend on the representatives of the Union government.” Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said recently that the poll body would soon initiate the process of holding Assembly polls in the Union Territory after witnessing the enthusiastic response during the Lok Sabha polls. [The EC had said the combined voter turnout at the polling stations for the entire Union Territory with five Lok Sabha seats was 58.46%, the highest in 35 years](. It will be the first Assembly polls since the abrogation of Article 370 and the bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories. The poll body said July 1 would be the qualifying date for the electoral rolls update. The pre-update exercise will begin on June 25 to set up or rationalise polling stations at locations most convenient to electors in group housing societies, slums, city outgrowths and rural areas. The final electoral rolls will be published on August 20. [Announcing its readiness for the upcoming polls]( the Bharatiya Janata Party has stated that Union Ministers Bhupendra Yadav and Ashwini Vaishnaw will be election in-charge of Maharashtra; their Cabinet colleagues Dharmendra Pradhan and Tripura MP Biplab Deb of Haryana; Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma will be in charge of Jharkhand; and Union Minister G. Kishen Reddy will be in charge of Jammu and Kashmir. [The Opposition Congress, buoyed by the Lok Sabha showing, will hold a series of strategy meetings next week for Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir]( where Assembly polls are expected later this year. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former party chief Rahul Gandhi will meet leaders from Jharkhand on June 24 to discuss the party’s election preparedness in the State and it will be followed by a meeting with leaders from Maharashtra the next day. On June 26, Haryana Congress leaders will have their meeting with Mr. Kharge and Mr. Gandhi while J&K leaders will meet them a day later. The Hindu’s Editorials [Arrow][Testing times: On the need to mend the National Testing AgencyÂ]( [Arrow][New Cold War: On the Russia-North Korea security pact, its likely fallout]( The Hindu’s Daily Quiz Which exam was cancelled by the Education Ministry on Wednesday, amidst suspicions that the integrity of the exam had been compromised? - CUET - UGC-NET - NEET - UPSC prelims To know the answer and to play the full quiz, [click here](. 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