Unveiling the manifesto for the upcoming Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, Home Minister Amit Shah has ruled out the restoration of Article 370, which granted special status to the erstwhile state, and said the provision has now “become history”. 

The restoration of Article 370, which was abrogated in 2019, has been promised in the manifesto released by the National Conference, which is contesting the elections in an alliance with the Congress. The Assembly polls will be the first since 2014 and are also being keenly watched to gauge how the people of Jammu and Kashmir feel about the removal of the provision.

Chandigarh:

The Haryana unit of the ruling BJP has written to the Election Commission requesting a brief postponement of the assembly poll slated for October 1, citing holidays before and after the election date that could lead to a lower voter turnout.

While the opposition Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) slammed the BJP, claiming that the ruling party was panicking as it could sense defeat, Abhay Chautala’s INLD too sought the deferment of polls.

A Haryana BJP leader on Saturday said the letter was sent by the party’s state unit chief Mohan Lal Badoli to the poll panel.

Haryana’s Chief Electoral Officer Pankaj Agarwal confirmed that the commission received a copy of the communication on Friday over email.

“We have received the communication from state BJP and forwarded it to the Election Commission,” Agarwal told PTI.

Varinder Garg, a member of the BJP’s state election management committee, said, “We have reasoned that the Assembly election date of October 1 (Tuesday) is preceded by a weekend and followed by more holidays which might hit the voting percentage as people tend to go on vacation on long weekends.” Varinder Garg said September 28-29 are Saturday and Sunday while October 1 is a poll holiday. It is followed by more holidays as Gandhi Jayanti falls on October 2 and Maharaja Agrasen Jayanti on October 3, he said.

“We have written to the Election Commission in this regard. For a better turnout, any new date once the string of holidays is over should be fine,” Varinder Garg told PTI over the phone.

By taking a day’s leave on September 30, people will have six holidays. Due to this long weekend, there is a strong possibility that several families might go on a vacation and give voting a miss, Mohan Lal Badoli said in his letter to the EC.

If it happens, the voting percentage would reduce drastically, he added.

Mohan Lal Badoli also said that on ‘Asoj Amavasya’ on October 2, several members of the Bishnoi community of Haryana will leave for Nokha tehsil of Bikaner in Rajasthan to participate in an annual fair held on the occasion.

This too can affect the voting percentage, he further said.

Mohan Lal Badoli wrote that it has been the continuous effort of the EC to ensure that the maximum number of people exercise their franchise to strengthen democracy.

Therefore, it would be appropriate that the date fixed for voting for the Haryana Assembly election be changed. While determining a fresh date for the election, it should be made certain that there is no holiday the previous or the following day, he wrote.

We believe that if the EC does this, more and more voters will be able to participate in the election, he wrote.

Mohan Lal Badoli, in his letter, also mentioned that in the past the date of polling has been changed by the EC. For example, the date declared for voting in Punjab Assembly elections — February 14, 2022 — was changed to February 20, 2022, due to Sant Ravidas Jayanti on February 16.

In 2022, the then Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, the BJP and its allies, and the BSP had urged the poll panel to postpone the date of voting as lakhs of followers of Guru Ravidas travel to Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh to celebrate the day.

However, Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda said the BJP’s stand shows that it has already accepted defeat.

It has been more than a week since the Election Commission announced the poll date. The BJP wants the polls to be deferred as it has accepted defeat, Bhupinder Hooda, who is Leader of the Opposition and former chief minister of Haryana, said.

Polls should be held according to the date fixed by the EC… People of Haryana don’t want to see the BJP government in power even for a day, he said.

Bhupinder Hooda’s son and Rohtak MP Deepender Hooda while referring to Mohan Lal Badoli’s letter, said, “It shows how scared the BJP is of the elections”.

The BJP is staring at defeat and is therefore coming up with such childish arguments. It has no issues, work or achievements to show to the people and no candidates to distribute the tickets. This is why the BJP is conspiring to postpone the elections by giving an excuse for holidays, Deepender Hooda said in Hindi on X.

The voters of Haryana are aware. They will not go anywhere for a holiday, but will come to the polling booth in large numbers to vote out the BJP government, he added.

The AAP’s Haryana unit said even before the elections took place, the ruling BJP had started looking for excuses as it could sense its impending defeat in the election.

In a post on X, the AAP said if the BJP had done work in the state, it would not have been seeking postponement of polls. This time the BJP’s defeat is certain, it said.

Meanwhile, Indian National Lok Dal’s (INLD) Chautala said the polling date should be postponed by one or two weeks.

Since people usually go on holidays on long weekends, it will adversely affect the voting percentage which is likely to decrease by 15 to 20 per cent, Chautala said.

The EC on August 16 announced that assembly polls in Haryana would be held in a single phase on October 1 and the results would be declared on October 4.

The BJP is eyeing a third consecutive term while the Congress is looking to wrest power from the ruling outfit.

The tenure of the current Haryana Vidhan Sabha ends on November 3.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

In a significant organisational reshuffle ahead of the assembly polls, the Congress on Friday appointed Tariq Hameed Karra as president of its Jammu and Kashmir unit and Keshav Mahto Kamlesh as chief of the Jharkhand Pradesh Congress Committee.

While Mr Karra replaces Vikar Rasool Wani in Jammu and Kashmir, Mr Kamlesh takes over from Rajesh Thakur.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge also appointed two working presidents for Jammu and Kashmir – Tara Chand and Raman Bhalla – as the party gets battle-ready for assembly polls in the Union Territory, the dates of which were announced by the Election Commission on Friday.

Mr Kharge has also appointed Mr Wani as a special invitee to the Congress Working Committee (CWC) with immediate effect. Mr Karra has been relieved from his current position as permanent invitee to the CWC, the party said in a statement.

“The party appreciates the contributions of the outgoing Pradesh Congress Committee president Vikar Rasool Wani,” the statement said.

In Jharkhand, where assembly polls are due later this year, the Congress also appointed Rameshwar Oraon as Leader of the Congress Legislature Party with immediate effect.

In significant appointments from Maharashtra, where elections are also due later this year, Mr Kharge appointed Balasaheb Thorat as a member of the CWC and Mohd Arif Naseem Khan as a special invitee to the CWC.

The Congress president has also appointed Syed Muzaffar Hussain as the working president of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee.

The Election Commission on Friday announced the schedules for assembly elections to Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir.

Jammu and Kashmir will vote in three phases on September 18, September 25 and October 1. The elections in Haryana will be held in a single phase on October 1. The results of both will be announced on October 4.

These will be the first assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370 and its reorganisation into a Union Territory.

The schedule for assembly elections in Jharkhand and Maharashtra are yet to be announced. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Jaipur:

A controversy has erupted over a video in which Congress leader Archana Sharma, who is said to be in the race to get a party ticket for the upcoming assembly polls, is purportedly speaking about a party “rival” striking up a “Rs 40-crore deal” to “stop her”.

Speaking to PTI, Ms Sharma, who is the chairperson of the Social Welfare Board, said she has not named anyone in the video.

After the video surfaced on social media, Congress leader Rajiv Arora, in a veiled attack at Ms Sharma, said, “You can never win by playing dirty”.

Ms Sharma, who is said to be eyeing a Congress ticket from Malviya Nagar constituency, responded saying Mr  Arora was targeting her due to a “misunderstanding”.

In the video, Ms Sharma is purportedly telling a group of people that a “rival within the party” held a meeting with her “rival”, indirectly referring to the sitting BJP MLA from Malviya Nagar constituency.

“When my rival felt that he was losing, he thought of making an alliance with my rival within the party, and both had a meeting in a hotel. But walls have ears. It came out that a deal worth Rs 40 crore has been made. Such a big deal to stop me,” Ms Sharma is heard saying.

BJP MLA Kalicharan Saraf has been representing the Malaviya Nagar seat since 2008.

Ms Arora, who is the chairperson of the Rajasthan Small Industries Corporation and Export Promotion Council, is among the Congress leaders vying for a ticket from the Malviya Nagar Assembly constituency, and is said to be lobbying in Delhi ahead of the announcement of the list of candidates.

After the video emerged, Rajiv Arora wrote on X on Wednesday evening, “You can never win by playing dirty. Karma is real. You reap what you sow. The ill-will of taking ticket even after losing twice is hurting the Congress party from Malviya Nagar.” 

When contacted, Ms Sharma said she had not named anyone at the gathering.

“Rajiv Arora is like my elder brother. I did not name anyone. When he contested the election from this seat, I supported him. He should also support me,” she said.

Polling for the 200-member Rajasthan Assembly will be held on November 25, and the counting of votes will be taken up on December 3. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

The BJP Headquarters in New Delhi is all set to see a flurry of activity on Wednesday evening, with thousands of party workers gathering to accord a grand welcome to Prime Minister Narendra Modi following the successful G20 Summit. 

India’s hosting of the prestigious summit and the fact that it managed to achieve a consensus on the New Delhi Declaration is being seen as a major diplomatic victory. The country’s successful presidency of the G20 and its championing of the issues of Global South have also strengthened its case for a permanent seat at the United Nations Security Council. 

The Prime Minister will get down to electoral business right after the welcome and take part in the BJP’s Central Election Committee meeting to decide on candidates for the crucial Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh elections.

The committee had also met on August 16 and candidates were announced for 39 constituencies in BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh and 21 in Congress-ruled Chhattisgarh a day later. These were seats where the BJP does not have sitting MLAs.

Sources said Wednesday’s meeting is likely to see deliberations on 50 constituencies in Madhya Pradesh and 35 in Chhattisgarh. Madhya Pradesh has 230 Assembly seats and Chhattisgarh has 90. 

The other members of the committee include BJP President J P Nadda, Home Minister Amit Shah and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. 

The naming of the candidates in August, which was done three months ahead of the polls in the states, had taken many people by surprise as it was the first time that the BJP had announced a list even before the Election Commission of India had declared the poll dates.

The move was seen as an attempt to pre-empt any friction within the party and iron out issues ahead of the elections in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Telangana and Mizoram. This is especially important as the party had lost in all the states in 2018, except Mizoram, where an NDA ally had formed the government with the BJP as a minor partner. 

The party had bounced back in the Lok Sabha elections the next year, sweeping Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, and doing better than the Congress in Telangana. It also managed to unseat the Kamal Nath government in Madhya Pradesh, following the rebellion led by Jyotiraditya Scindia, and Shivraj Singh Chouhan took oath as chief minister in 2020.

Like in 2018, the elections in the five states are being seen as a ‘semi-final’ ahead of the Lok Sabha elections next year. They have become even more important because of the BJP’s big loss in Karnataka in May, which has ensured that the party is not in power in any state in south India.