Mizoram, Chhattisgarh to kick off elections to five states today

Tribune News Service

Shubhadeep Choudhury

New Delhi, November 6

The last major set of state elections in the country before the Lok Sabha poll will kick off tomorrow with the polling for all 40 constituencies of Mizoram and the first phase of voting for 20 of the 90 Assembly seats in Chhattisgarh.

3-way fight in NE state

In Mizoram, stage is set for a triangular contest between the ruling Mizo National Front (MNF), Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM) and the Congress.

Ph-I covers naxal-hit areas

12 of 20 seats going to the polls in Chhattisgarh on Tuesday are in Naxal-hit Bastar division. The polling for the remaining 70 seats will be on Nov 17.

The polling for the remaining 70 constituencies of Chhattisgarh and all 230 seats of Madhya Pradesh Assembly will be held on November 17. Rajasthan and Telangana, also slated to elect their Assemblies, will go to the polls on November 25 and 30, respectively. The results for all five states, scheduled for December 3, are expected to reflect the popular mood in the country before the General Election. In Chhattisgarh, the ruling Congress has chosen to go with incumbent CM Bhupesh Baghel as the chief ministerial candidate while the BJP is banking on the popularity of PM Modi. The campaigning for the first phase battle in Chhattisgarh saw PM Modi attacking CM Baghel over the alleged Mahadev betting app scam. The Congress rested its campaign on the promise for a caste census and slew of welfare schemes for different sections of society.

Among prominent Congress candidates whose fate will be sealed tomorrow are state chief and MP Deepak Baij (Chitrakoot), ministers Kawasi Lakhma (Konta), Mohan Markam (Kondagaon), Mohammad Akbar (Kawardha) and Chhavindra Karma (Dantewada).

The main candidates from the BJP for this phase are former CM Raman Singh (Rajnandgaon), former ministers Kedar Kashyap (Narayanpur), Lata Usendi (Kondagaon), Vikram Usendi (Antagarh) and Mahesh Gagda (Bijapur).

The Congress has fielded its senior OBC leader and chairman of Chhattisgarh Mineral Development Corporation Girish Dewangan against Raman Singh. AAP's state unit chief Komal Hupendi will contest from Bhanupratappur seat. Twelve of the 20 seats are Naxal-affected Bastar division.

In Mizoram, the stage is set for a triangular contest between the ruling Mizo National Front (MNF), Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM) and the Congress.

The elections will come amid the disturbance in the neighbouring state of Manipur, which the ruling MNF under Chief Minister Zoramthanga will hope to cash in on. The ZPM, however, is hopeful that its promise of corruption-free governance will reap rich dividends while the Congress is confident of forming the government in the state.

The BJP is contesting only in 23 seats in Mizoram.

#Chhattisgarh #Lok Sabha