President's Rule for Jammu and Kashmir is likely early next year. Given the extent of the floods and the massive rehabilitation work that lies ahead, authoritative sources in the Union government speculate that the it will take at least six months to a year to get the state back on track.

The tenure of the J&K assembly ends on January 19, 2015.

Conducting plols for the Jammu and Kashmir assembly polls in December 2014 will be difficult on two accounts...

i. Poll officials will not be available for duty since rehabilitation work will be on in full swing.
ii. Kashmir will be covered in snow in December.

For now, the Union government will wait for a report from the Election Commission for initiating process for President's Rule in Jammu and Kashmir. Politically such a decision will be a positive sign for the BJP also for Congress as it gains organisational strength.