New Delhi: The Election Commission of India announced the schedule for the upcoming Assembly elections for five States. Mizoram is the first to vote on November 7, followed by Madhya Pradesh on November 17, Chhattisgarh on November 7 and November 17 (two phases), Rajasthan on November 23 and Telangana on November 30.
The counting of votes will be taken up on December 3, 2023. The Election Commission usually announces the election schedule six to eight weeks before the term of the legislative assembly expires. The term of legislative assemblies of Telangana, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram and Rajasthan end in December-January.
“As we stand on the cusp of elections in these states, it is worth noting that these polls hold a unique significance, but also for the nation,” said Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar. He also said that EC has given special emphasis on making electoral rolls inclusive, with focus on “roll-to-poll conversion”.
According to the CEC, Mizoram has 8.52 lakh voters, Chhattisgarh has 2.03 crore, Madhya Pradesh has 5.6 crore, Rajasthan has 5.2 crore and Telangana has 3.17 crore voters. Total voters in these states would be totaling to 8.2 crore male and 7.8 crore female voters.
The upcoming state polls are being considered as a semi-final before the 2024 assembly elections. It will be a major test for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after its defeat in the Karnataka assembly elections earlier this year. The Lok Sabha polls are due in 2024.
While the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) rules Telangana, Madhya Pradesh is ruled by the BJP. The Congress is in power in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. The Mizo National Front is in power in the northeastern state.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had recently visited the poll-bound states of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
MADHYA PRADESH
Madhya Pradesh will go to polls on November 17, with results on December 3, 2023. The elections will be held in one phase, said the Election Commission while revealing the dates.
In the 2018 elections, Congress had won 114 seats of the 230 seats with a vote share of 41.5 per cent while the BJP came second and managed to win 109 seats. But in 2020, the Congress government lost its majority after some MLAs belonging to a faction led by Jyotiraditya Scindia resigned and later joined the BJP, which came back to power with Shivraj Singh Chouhan as the chief minister.
RAJASTHAN
The 200-seat assembly will vote on November 23 with counting on December 3, 2023. The election will be held in one phase.
The Congress emerged as the single-largest party, managing to win 99 seats, falling short by 1 seat to secure the majority mark in Rajasthan during the last state elections. Congress, however, formed the state government after an alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party and the support of independent MLAs. BJP had secured 73 seats.
TELANGANA
The 119-seat state will vote on November 30, with counting of votes on December 3, 2023. Telangana is set to witness a triangular contest between the BJP, the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi and the Congress in the upcoming assembly elections. In the previous polls held in 2018, BRS managed to win 88 seats out of 119, with a dominant vote share of 47.4%. Congress had come a distant second with 19 seats.
CHHATTISGARH
Chhattisgarh polls will be held in two phases on November 7 and November 17, 2023. Counting will done on December 3, 2023. In 2018, Congress had bagged 68 seats out of 90 with a vote share of 43.9%. BJP came in at distant second with 15 seats in Chhattisgarh.
MIZORAM
The 40-seat assembly will vote on November 7, 2023. In Mizoram, Mizo National Front had managed to win 26 seats with a vote share of 37.8% in the year 2018.
