Simultaneous Lok Sabha, assembly polls likely in JK, poll schedule likely to be announced in March

New Delhi: The Election Commission of India is likely to announce the dates for the Lok Sabha elections in the first week of March and may hold assembly elections of Jammu and Kashmir along with it, said a media report.
The elections are likely to be held in six to seven phases and the term of the current Lok Sabha ends on June 3.
As per the report, Election Commission (EC) is in the process of taking a decision on the number of phases and the months in which elections would take place. The state assembly polls are likely to be held in April.
The decision on the phases would be taken keeping in mind the availability of security forces and other requirements. As per the PTI, sources also said that the poll panel may hold assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir along with the Lok Sabha elections or before, depending on the security situation.
Notably, since the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly was dissolved in November 2018, the poll panel is bound to hold fresh elections there by May 2019. It increases the chance that EC might hold elections in J-K along with the 2019 LS polls.
The last assembly elections were held in 2014 after which BJP-PDP coalition government was formed. In June 2018, the government fell when the BJP pulled out of the coalition and the state went under Governor’s rule for six months. The state is currently under President’s rule.