New Delhi, Oct 9: Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana and Mizoram will go to assembly polls between November 7 and 30, and the counting of votes will be on December 3, the Election Commission said on Monday, setting the stage for what is being seen as the semi-final between the BJP and opposition parties ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Announcing the election schedule at a press conference here, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar said single-phase assembly polls will be held in Madhya Pradesh on November 17, Rajasthan on November 23, Telangana on November 30 and Mizoram on November 7 while Chhattisgarh will go to the polls in two phases on November 7 (20 seats) and 17 (70 seats).
With the announcement of the poll schedule, the model code of conduct has come into force in the five states.
The EC has written to the Cabinet Secretary and chief secretaries of the five states to ensure provisions of the model code are enforced immediately.
The high-stakes polls will be a litmus test for the Congress, the biggest party in the fledgling INDIA bloc which is in power in two of the four big states, while a lot is riding for the BJP as well, as the results are bound to have a major bearing on the discourse in the run-up to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s reelection bid next year.
The BJP and the Congress will be engaged in a direct fight in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan while the two parties are also in contention for power in Telangana, where Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao-led Bharat Rashtra Samithi is eyeing a third straight term.
In Mizoram, regional parties and the Congress will challenge the incumbent Mizo National Front amid the opposition party’s hope is that the political polarisation on ethnic lines following violence in Manipur may boost its chances.
However, it is the assembly polls in three Hindi-speaking states, a BJP stronghold in two consecutive Lok Sabha polls, besides Telangana, which are likely to have an outsize influence on national politics.
Despite losing to the Congress in the assembly contests, the BJP had swept the 2019 national elections in the three central and western states, which together account for 65 Lok Sabha constituencies, but knows that no two polls are alike and has been making big moves to regain power there.
In a departure from usual practice, the BJP named a large number of candidates, including several Union ministers and other MPs, in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh before their polling schedule was announced and released fresh lists of more names for the two states and Rajasthan on Monday.
By doing so, the BJP has underlined its determined intent to get the better of the Congress which is fancying its chances after handing its rival a big defeat in Karnataka.
The BJP is also hoping to emerge as a big force in Telangana where, observers believe, the Congress has seen a rebound in its fortunes since the Karnataka polls in May.
Nearly 16 crore voters would be eligible to cast their votes in these elections, CEC Rajiv Kumar said while asserting that strong measures are being put in place to make these polls inducement-free.
He also said the poll panel has given special emphasis on making electoral rolls inclusive. The focus will be on “roll-to-poll” conversion. He said the poll machinery in the five states will make all-out efforts to ensure greater voter participation on election days.
The poll panel had been fighting apathy among the youth and urban voters who prefer to stay at home instead of going to the polling booth to exercise their franchise. (PTI)
