BREAKING: Election Commission To Announce Assembly Poll Schedule For 5 States Today

NEW DELHI: The Election Commission of India (ECI) is expected to announce the much-anticipated schedule for the upcoming assembly elections in five states – Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Telangana, and Mizoram – on Monday. The poll panel is expected to announce the full assembly election schedule for five states in a press briefing to be held this afternoon.

The top poll body will be holding a press conference to give a brief about the preparations that will undertaken to ensure fair and smooth conduct of the election process and the dates when voters will exercise their franchise in these five states. 

According to news agency PTI, the EC will hold a press conference to give a brief about the preparations that will be undertaken to ensure fair and smooth conduct of the election process and the dates when voters will exercise their franchise in these five states. 

Currently, the BJP is in power in Madhya Pradesh, Congress rules in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), led by K Chandrasekhar Rao, is in power in Telangana and the Mizo National Front (MNF), an ally of BJP, is in power in Mizoram.

In 2018, four of these five states went through a single phase of polling while two phases were undertaken in Chhattisgarh in view of the Naxal problem. The run-up to the polls witnessed massive blame games, attacks and counterattacks by the political parties as they put their might to woo the voters. With the announcement today, parties will have to plan their campaigning judiciously to avoid any action by the ECI under the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) which will come into force soon after the declaration of polling dates.

BJP and Congress are in a direct fight in Madhya Pradesh, Chhatisgarh and Rajasthan. While the saffron party rules MP, Congress is in power in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. These polls come just months ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections where the BJP-led NDA is eyeing the third term in a row.

The opposition has formed a mega I.N.D.I.A bloc to take on PM Narendra Modi-led government in the general elections with over 25 parties coming together to fight the polls. However, the opposition camp has not made any announcement about their PM candidate and on the seat distribution yet. Also, the alliance seems to be in form only for the parliament elections as most of the parties are continuing to fight the assembly elections individually.