Fresh polls in J&K before May 2019, says EC amid political chaos over Assembly dissolution

New Delhi: Amid an ongoing political turmoil in Jammu and Kashmir, the Election Commission has announced that a fresh election in the state would be conducted within the next six months even as it did not rule out the possibility of holding polls there before the Lok Sabha elections scheduled to be held in 2019.

"The Jammu and Kashmir assembly polls must be held on the first occasion before May... It could be held before parliament elections also," Chief Election Commissioner O P Rawat said.

He added that according to the Supreme Court, the outer limit for holding fresh polls after the dissolution of a house is six months, that is May 2019.

At the same time, he made it clear that the Commission will decide on poll dates after "considering all aspects."

On Wednesday, the state assembly was abruptly dissolved by Governor Satya Pal Malik. The decision came hours after Mehbooba Mufti's PDP staked claim to form a government with the backing of her arch-rival National Conference led by Omar Abdullah and also the Congress. They claimed the support of 56 lawmakers in the 87-member state assembly.

This was followed by another bid from the two-member People's Conference which claimed the support of the BJP and 18 legislators from other parties.

(With inputs from PTI)