The Election Commission on Monday announced the dates for the Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Telangana and Mizoram.
Voting for all 40 assembly seats in Mizoram will take place on November 7 along with the first phase of polling for 20 seats in Chhattisgarh. The remaining 70 seats in Chhattisgarh will go to polls on November 17 alongside all 230 seats in Madhya Pradesh.
Voting for all 200 assembly seats in Rajasthan will take place on November 23, while the 119-member Telangana Assembly will be the last to go to polls on November 30. Counting of votes for all five states will take place on December 3, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said at a press conference.
While the term of the Mizoram assembly ends on December 17, the terms of the legislative Assemblies in Telangana, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan end on different dates in January next year.
According to the CEC, nearly 16 crore voters will be eligible to vote during the five assembly elections. A total of 1.77 lakh polling stations will be set up in all five states, out of which 1.01 lakh stations will have webcasting facilities. Over 8,000 polling stations will be managed by women.
There will be 8.2 crore male and 7.8 crore female voters in all five states and over 60.2 lakh first-time voters. “We have met all stakeholders, including political parties and enforcement agencies, while preparing for assembly elections in Mizoram, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, MP and Telangana,” he said.
The CEC added that the Election Commission has placed special emphasis on making electoral rolls inclusive and the focus will also be on “roll-to-poll” to ensure that all voters come to vote.
The Mizo National Front is in power in the northeastern state while Congress rules Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. The BRS is the ruling party in Telangana while BJP heads Madhya Pradesh.
Both the BJP and the Opposition’s INDIA bloc have already begun campaigning in the poll-bound states. The Congress is firming up the party’s strategy in the states and Monday’s CWC meet is aimed at finalising the preparations. It is said that a nationwide caste census and poll strategies are on the agenda at Monday’s meeting.
As for the BJP, it has already kickstarted campaigning in many states, riding on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s star power. Modi has already toured Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Telangana multiple times to hold public rallies and meetings. The Assembly election will also be a litmus test for the newly formed INDIA alliance.
