EC announces dates for five poll-bound states; elections to be conducted in four phases

Chhattisgarh having a 90-member legislative assembly will have the election in two-phases on November 12 and 20.

The Election Commission of India (EC), on Saturday, announced the dates for the upcoming assembly elections in five poll-bound states of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Rajasthan and Telangana. These elections will be conducted in four phases between November 12 and December 7.

Chhattisgarh having a 90-member legislative assembly will have the election in two-phases on November 12 and 20. The southern districts affected by Maoists will be voting in the first phase.

The central state of Madhya Pradesh has 230 seats will go into polls on November 28.

The North-Eastern state of Mizoram governed by Congress has 40 assembly seats. People here will cast votes on November 28 alongside Madhya Pradesh.

India's largest state, Rajasthan will have the assembly election for 200-members on December 7.

The southern state of Telangana will also go for elections on December 7. India's newest state has 119 members contesting in the assembly polls. The counting will be done on December 11. Elections here was necessitated after chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao dissolved the assembly last month. However, TDP and Congress have already forged an alliance going into the elections.

The guidelines, which is the model code of conduct, to govern political parties and their candidates in the lead-up to the elections is already in force in Telangana. It will be applied in the other four states as well.

Several parties have forged alliances and are gearing up for the campaigns. BSP supremo Mayawati has joined hands with Ajit Jogi's Janta Congress in Chhattisgarh. This has set the stage for a three-party contest after she failed talks with Congress on seat-sharing. Mayawati also has named 22 candidates in Madhya Pradesh.

BJP, Congress and other regional parties have been busy addressing rallies, holding party meetings in these states. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is slated to address a rally in Bikaner on Saturday after completing his rally in Ajmer. Meanwhile, Congress President Rahul Gandhi will be present in Rajasthan on October 9and 10.

Except for Mizoram, which is ruled by the Congress, all the other states are ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party. These assembly elections will be important for the saffron party as anticipated results will evoke mixed reactions among the public in the aforementioned poll-bound states. The results will act as a curtain raiser for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in 2019.