Assembly polls 2023: Top guns go all out in last-mile campaigning in MP and Chhattisgarh

The counting of votes will be done on December 3 for all five poll-bound states

Ahead of the Madhya Pradesh polls and the second phase of the Chattisgarh elections, both Congress and the BJP are going all out. While Prime Minister Narendra Modi resumed his rallies in Betul and Shajapur, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will conduct a roadshow in Chhattisgarh’s Raipur. Rahul Gandhi, who is on a two-day visit to Madhya Pradesh, will be in Vidisha and address a rally in Tikamgarh district later on.

Madhya Pradesh will also see Amit Shah, J P Nadda, Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, Yogi Adityanath, Mallikarjun Kharge, Akhilesh Yadav and Arvind Kejriwal making the last-ditch attempts to woo voters.

"This is the last set of my rallies for Madhya Pradesh Assembly polls because the election campaign will conclude tomorrow. Tomorrow is the birth anniversary of Birsa Munda and Jharkhand. Therefore, I will visit there tomorrow," said PM in Betul.

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Union minister Smriti Irani and Assam Chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma will also hold rallies in Chhattisgarh. Union minister Anurag Thakur plans to attack opponents and try to sway voters’ sentiments for his party through a press conference in Raipur.

The battle for state has been about welfare schemes and cash transfers, a race to offer instant gratification to voters. The state has the lowest per capita income among the states where elections are being held and lags the national per capita income by more than Rs 33,000 per year despite having increased by 10% since 2018-’19, according to Indian Express.

At the polls on November 17, the BJP government led by Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the state’s longest-serving chief minister, will seek a fifth term, while the Nath-led Congress looks to give it a tough challenge. As India’s second-largest state, Madhya Pradesh is significant to the electoral calculations of both the Congress and the BJP since Lok Sabha elections are due in less than six months.

According to News18, while Kamal Nath is stressing on the issue of corruption and unemployment, the BJP has taken to issues such as the Ram Temple to keep the election centered on Hindutva. The BJP is essentially asking voters to focus on Modi’s face in the state and the importance of making him the Prime Minister again in 2024.

Meanwhile, demand for a 27 % quota for the Other Backward Class (OBC) population, rise in violence between Adivasi Christians and non-Christians and farmer issues are some of the poll issues in Chattisgarh. Accorting to CNBCTV18, for the ruling Congress, a significant focus lies on showcasing achievements in sectors like agriculture, rural development and education