The Election Commission of India is expected to announce the schedule for upcoming Assembly elections in several states today at 3 PM. In a press release earlier on Friday morning, the election authority confirmed that it would hold a press conference to announce the dates for the General Election to the Legislative Assemblies.

States like Maharashtra, Haryana, and Jharkhand are preparing for elections, as the five-year terms of their respective legislative assemblies come to an end. Currently, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) governs Haryana independently and leads a coalition government in Maharashtra with the support of the Eknath Shinde-led faction of the Shiv Sena. In Jharkhand, power is held by the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)-Congress alliance, led by the Soren family.

The BJP is likely to reveal its first list of candidates for these elections later this month. Reports suggest that the party will announce around 30-35 candidates for Maharashtra, 20 for Haryana, and 25 for Jharkhand.

However, Maharashtra may pose challenges for the BJP as the party needs to balance its alliances with the Shiv Sena and the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). On the other hand, in Haryana and Jharkhand, the BJP is expected to contest the majority of the seats without much difficulty.

There are also speculations that the Election Commission could announce dates for the much-anticipated elections in the union territory of Jammu & Kashmir. The region has not witnessed elections since 2014, and its government was dissolved in 2018 after the BJP withdrew from its coalition with the People's Democratic Party (PDP). President's Rule was imposed shortly after. If announced, these would be the first elections since the revocation of Article 370 in 2019, which stripped Jammu & Kashmir of its special status. The Supreme Court ruled the abrogation constitutional in 2023 and mandated that elections be held before September 30, 2024.

India previously held general elections earlier this year, with the BJP securing 240 seats, a significant drop from the 303 seats it won in 2019. The party, however, formed a government by allying with several regional parties, including Andhra Pradesh's Telugu Desam Party, Bihar's Janata Dal (United), and Maharashtra's Shiv Sena. The Congress-led opposition, known as the INDIA bloc, won 234 seats, with the Congress party alone claiming 99 seats.

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