EC to announce Assembly poll dates for 5 states today at noon

The Commission has taken stock of poll preparedness in Rajasthan, Mizoram, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh so far.

The Election Commission (EC) of India will today announce the dates for Assembly polls in five states - Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Telangana, and Mizoram -  in a press meet scheduled at noon.

Assembly polls in these states are likely to be held between mid-November and the first week of December. The Commission has taken stock of poll preparedness in Rajasthan, Mizoram, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh so far.

Catch live updates of Assembly polls here.

The terms of the legislative assemblies of Telangana, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, and Rajasthan will end on different dates in January 2024.

Also Read | Road To 2024: 'Jitni Abadi, Utna Haq' caste census demand fraught with many contradictions 

In Telangana, the K Chandrasekhar Rao-led Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) is in power, while the Madhya Pradesh government is headed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Meanwhile, the Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan governments are led by Congress.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, on October 6, announced that the state will be conducting a caste survey similar to Bihar ahead of the Assembly polls. The Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee (RPCC) core committee meeting held an elaborate discussion on this at the party’s war room in Jaipur.

The 200-seat Rajashtan Assembly is led by Congress which won 99 seats in the state elections 2018. It, however, tied up with Bahujan Samaj Party and independent MLAs to form the government, since it had fallen short by one seat to score the majority mark.

Meanwhile, commenting on the state polls in Chhattisgarh, Deputy CM TS Singh Deo, in an interaction with the media today, said that "Naxalism is the biggest problem" as far as law and order is concerned in the state. He hailed the state government for successfully controlling the problem in the last five years.

"Recently an incident came up, an incident also surfaced from Ujjain at the same time. Such incidents are less related to the government and more related to morbid psychology," the deputy CM noted. "If the government knows that something is going to happen and they don't take action, then it is the government's responsibility. But when a person with a morbid mentality commits such crimes, which government can predict this? I think the citizens are sensible enough that they will not relate one person's misconduct to the whole government", he added.

In another significant development in Telangana ahead of the polls, two senior BRS leaders, one MLC, and a sitting legislator called it quits on October 6 from the party.

Ajmeera Rekha, Khanapur legislator, announced her resignation from the party in a press meet, while MLC Kasireddy Narayana Reddy joined Congress in the presence of Mallikarjun Kharge in Delhi.

Also Read | Why BJP thinks it is winning Rajasthan, and Congress thinks it is winning Madhya Pradesh?

In Madhya Pradesh, legislators will be elected from 230 constituencies. The Congress, in 2018, knocked out the BJP, winning 114 seats, with a vote share of 41.5 percent. The BJP managed to grab 109 seats in the state polls. The ruling Congress, however, was washed out after being hit by an MLA resignation spree led by erstwhile Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia who later joined the BJP. Following this, the BJP formed the ruling government in the state, led by Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

Madhya Pradesh minister Vishwas Sarang, while interacting with the press today, expressed his confidence in the BJP's victory in the Assembly polls. "A very successful model of the double-engine government has been established in Madhya Pradesh under PM Modi's leadership. MP is a state which is developing very fast...We will win more than 150 seats this time," noted Sarang.

The term of the legislative assembly of Mizoram, where the Mizo National Front (MNF) is in power, ends on December 17 this year. The MNF is an ally of the BJP.

This is a developing story. Please stay tuned for more updates.