Election dates for 5 states to be announced this noon
Aditi Tandon
New Delhi, October 9
Stage is set for elections to the assemblies of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Telangana and Mizoram with the Election Commission set to announce the poll schedule on Monday.
Also read: Explainer: Elections to five Assemblies, a barometer of popularity of BJP and Congress
Last time, the EC had announced the polls to these five states on October 6, 2018.
Polls were held in a single phase in all states except in Chhattisgarh where two-phase elections were held.
The elections are key as they are viewed as a precursor to the 2024 general election.
The BJP is in power in Madhya Pradesh where its chief minister Shivraj Chouhan faces anti-incumbency.
The Congress is in power in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh and BRS in Telangana.
For the Congress, the poll cycle is particularly crucial as it holds power on its own only in four states, including in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.
The grand old party would need to retain the two states to stay afloat as the principal opposition amid a growing recalibration of opposition forces.
The Congress is a key constituent of the anti-BJP INDIA bloc but its heft in the alliance would depend on its electoral presence which would be tested in the coming state elections.
The BJP, too, faces a tough contest with the Congress continuing its policies of freebies in all poll-bound states and adding the demand of caste census, which could alter the electoral matrix.
The BJP has accused the Congress of seeking to divide the people.
The BJP has also been attacking the opposition as a group of dynasts out to further personal agendas.
The EC has already posted 1,180 observers to poll-bound states to ensure free and fair elections.
In 2018, the BJP had lost Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, MP and Telangana and later gone on to better its Lok Sabha tally in 2019.
The saffron party is hopeful of bettering its 2018 assembly election performance.
It has fielded seven Lok Sabha MPs, including three ministers, in Madhya Pradesh.
