EC on why Wayanad bypoll is not taking place alongside Haryana and J&K Assembly elections

New Delhi: The Election Commission considered the pressure on security forces due to the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly election to decouple polls to Haryana and Maharashtra though both states went to election together five years ago.

The EC also chose not to announce bypolls to Wayanad Lok Sabha seat, which was vacated by Rahul Gandhi, and 46 Assembly seats, including ten in Uttar Pradesh, saying many states were facing disasters and it is not the right time to hold elections there.

Asked about Maharashtra, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said Jammu and Kashmir was not a factor in 2019.

He said four elections are due this year and by early next year. Besides Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana, elections are due in Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Delhi.

“Depending on the requirement of forces, which I said is on a higher tone in Jammu and Kashmir, we decided to have two Assembly elections together,” he said.

There were other factors too, including the Booth Level Officers not being able to complete their job in Maharashtra and a series of festivals. “All that put together, we decided to have two elections at a time,” he added.

Kumar said the next set of elections will be announced after the completion of the polls in Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana.

On why bypolls to Lok Sabha and Assemblies were not being announced, he said weather is the main issue in some states and that they cannot hold bypolls in a piecemeal fashion.

“We saw a big disaster (landslide in Wayanad) in the Lok Sabha seat. We cannot have bypolls there now. Some states were experiencing floods… Let people have some breathing space. We will hold the bypolls within the stipulated six months,” he said.

On Jammu and Kashmir polls, Kumar said the Union Territory has around 87.09 lakh voters, which 44.46 lakh are men and 42.62 lakh women. Of this, 3.71 lakh voters are first timers while 20.7 lakh voters are in the 20-29 age group.

In Haryana, he said there are 2.01 crore voters, of which 1.06 crore are males and 95 lakh women. Of this 4.52 lakhs are first-time voters.

In Jammu and Kashmir, the number of centenarian voters is 2,660 while in Haryana it is 10,321. "Haryana has a robust, healthy lifestyle and among the voters, there are 10,321 centenarians. We salute all of them and we will make every effort to ensure they all come out to vote," he said.