As the Assembly elections for the five states were announced on Monday (October 9), the model code of conduct came into effect, thus setting the clock ticking until the polling scheduled to begin from November 7 to 30 and the counting of votes slated to take place on December 3.
Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar held a press conference today and announced the dates for the elections of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram.
Voting will be held in Chhattisgarh in two phases on November 7 and November 17. Voting will take place in Mizoram on November 7, in Madhya Pradesh on November 17, in Rajasthan on November 23 and in Telangana on November 30. The results of all these states will be declared on December 3.
All data at a glance
Besides the announcement of dates, the CEC also put forth crucial data concerning the five poll-bound states. As per the CEC, there are a total of 16.14 crore voters across five states out of whom 8.2 crore are male and 7.8 crore are female voters.
There are 8.52 lakh voters in Mizoram, 2.03 crore voters in Chhattisgarh, 5.06 crore voters in Madhya Pradesh, 5.26 crore voters in Rajasthan and 3.17 crore voters in Telangana.
"Out of the 8.52 lakh voters in Mizoram, 4.13 lakh voters are male and 4.39 lakh are female. In Chhattisgarh, there are 1.01 crore male voters while 1.02 crore are female. Madhya Pradesh has 2.88 crore male voters and 2.72 crore female voters. For Rajasthan, there are 2.73 crore male voters and 2.52 crore female voters. In Telangana, there are 1.58 crore male voters and 1.58 crore female voters," according to the data released by EC.
According to the ECI, there are a total of 60.2 lakh first-time voters in all five states where 50,611 are first-time voters in Mizoram, 7.23 lakh in Chhattisgarh, 22.36 lakh in Madhya Pradesh, 22.04 lakh in Rajasthan 8.11 lakh in Telangana.
“Around 60 lakh first time voters(18-19 Yrs) will participate in elections of 5 states. 15.39 lakh young voters are eligible to participate in elections due to amendment on qualifying dates. To inspire young voters, over 2900 polling stations will be managed by youth,” CEC Rajiv Kumar said.
PwD and other voters
There are 17.34 lakh Persons with a disability (PWD) voters in five states.
According to the ECI, the number of electors marked as PeD, Third Gender and Senior Citizen (80+) in all five states are 1,1,86,215 in Chhattisgarh, 5,6,53,640 in Madhya Pradesh, 8,490 in Mizoram, 11,78,285 in Rajasthan, 4,43,943 in Telangana.
Polling stations
The Commission said that a total of 1.77 lakh polling stations will be set up in 679 assembly constituencies out of which 1.01 lakh will have the webcasting facility.
There will be 17,734 model polling stations. 621 Polling stations will be managed by PwD staff, and at 8,192 PS women will be in command, the CEC said.
There will be 24,109 polling stations in Chhattisgarh, 64,523 in Madhya Pradesh, 1,276 in Mizoram, 51,756 in Rajasthan, and 35,356 in Telangana, according to the ECI.
The commission said that all critical events will be video-graphed.
“District Election Officers will arrange sufficient number of video and digital cameras and camera teams for the purpose,” the ECI said in a release.
Security deployment
The ECI said that Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) are deployed to supplement the local police force in ensuring a peaceful and conducive atmosphere for the smooth conduct of elections in a free, fair and credible manner.
“Conduct of elections involves elaborate security management, which includes not just the security of polling personnel, polling stations and polling materials, but also the overall security of the election process. Based on the assessment of the ground situation, Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) and State Armed Police (SAP) drawn from other States will be deployed during the election,” the Commission said.
Political fight in all five states
Congress and BJP are head to head in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan while in Telangana, a triangular contest is likely with the ruling BRS also in the picture.
In Madhya Pradesh, which has 230 Assembly seats, Congress formed its government winning 114 seats in the 2018 Assembly elections, ending the rule of Shivraj Singh Chouhan government. BJP won 109 seats with a vote share of 41.6 per cent. However, Congress’ government could not last for five years as it lost the majority in 2020 after some MLAs who were considered loyal to Jyotiraditya Scindia resigned. Scindia later joined the BJP. Shivraj Singh Chouhan returned as the Chief Minister.
Rajasthan, which has 200 seats, witnesses a change of government every alternate term. Congress returned to power with support of BSP and independents as it failed to cross the majority mark on its own with 99 seats. The BJP won 73 seats in 2018.
In Telangana, the ruling BRS won 88 out of 119 seats in 2018. Congress stood at the second spot with 19 seats.
Congress returned to power in Chhattisgarh in the 2018 elections, winning 68 of 90 seats in the state assembly. BJP won 15 seats.
In a 40-member Mizoram assembly, Mizo National Front bagged 26 seats with a vote share of 37.8 per cent to emerge victorious in the 2018 polls. Congress secured five seats and BJP won one seat.
(With ANI inputs)
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