India
Jammu and Kashmir has been under Governor's Rule since June, when the BJP ended its ruling alliance with Mufti, forcing her to resign.
Jammu: Chief election commissioner OP Rawat said on Thursday that the Jammu and Kashmir election can be held before May and possibly before the national polls.
On Wednesday, governor Satya Pal Malik dissolved the assembly.
“The Jammu and Kashmir assembly polls must be held on the first occasion before May. It can be held before parliament elections also," said Rawat.
He said the Supreme Court has the six months is the "outer limit" for an election after the dissolution of the assembly.
He referred to Telangana, which is also voting to elect a new government after the assembly was dissolved in September, in a move by Chief Minister K Chandrasekhara Rao to bring forward polls in the state.
People's Democratic Party leader Mehbooba Mufti staked claim to form the government along with her arch-rival Omar Abdullah's National Conference (NC) and the Congress.They claimed the support of 56 lawmakers in the 87-member state assembly.
Shortly after, People's Conference leader Sajad Lone also staked claims to form the government. Lone, who has two lawmakers, said he had the support of the BJP's 25 legislators and "more than 18" others.
The Governor said that it is impossible to form a stable government by the coming together of political parties with opposing political ideologies including some which have been demanding the dissolution of the Assembly.
(With agency inputs)
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