Campaign for the first phase of Assembly elections that begins on Tuesday came to an end on Sunday evening for the single phase Mizoram Assembly elections and first phase Chhattisgarh with top political leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi shuttling for rallies between the north eastern state and the Chhattisgarh and another poll bound Madhya Pradesh which goes to polls on November 17. The other States which would vote in assembly elections this month are Rajasthan single phase on November 25 and Telangana on November 30.
Sending polling parties to the inaccessible and Maoist affected polling booths in the first phase of elections started on Sunday. 42 polling parties in Sukma district and 34 polling parties in Bijapur district were transported to the polling stations through helicopters. The second phase Chhattisgarh polls will be held on November 17 and counting for all is scheduled for December 3.
On the last day of the campaign, Modi visited Dongargarh, a pilgrimage spot, and met Jain seer Acharya Vidyasagar Maharaj. The PM also prayed at Maa Bamleshwari Devi temple.
Apart from Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma campaigned in the first phase, while the Congress’ bid to retain power was led by Rahul Gandhi, party president Mallikarjun Kharge, Priyanka Gandhi and Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel.
In the 2018 Assembly polls, the Congress had won 17 out of the 20 seats that will go to polls in the first phase. The Congress has 71 seats in the 90-member House. The second phase of polls to 70 seats will take place on November 17, while results will be counted on December 3.
The north eastern state Mizoram this time witnessed a high voltage campaign with the political landscape shifting from bi-polar to multi-corner contest which saw presence of more national and regional parties in the electoral fray indicating a stiff fight across all constituencies.
The ruling Mizo National Front is banking on its achievements and “Zo†nationalism while the Congress is looking for a comeback by pushing the agenda of “Trang Puihna. The Zoram People’s Movement is fighting for a new system of governance - “Kalphung Thar†while the BJP is pushing the agenda of Good Governance and Development. The new entrant Aam Aadmi Party is fighting on the plank of “Corruption Free Mizoramâ€.
While Mizoram will go for a single phase of Assembly polls on November 7 to elect 40 members of the Mizoram Legislative Assembly, polling for the first phase in Chhattisgarh will be held in 20 assembly constituencies same day. Counting will take place on December 3 alongwith all other states where are elections are scheduled this month.
Meanwhile, incidents of Maoist violence have been reported in some areas of Bastar division. Maoists killed a BJP leader in Kaushalnar village of Maoist-affected Narayanpur district in Bastar division today evening while he was campaigning. The slain BJP leader was the district vice president of the party. Earlier, on November 1, Maoists had abducted and killed three villagers in the border area of Maharashtra in Bastar division.
The first phase of campaigning in Chhatissgarh saw Prime Minister attacking Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel over the alleged Mahadev betting app scam, while other leaders of the BJP spoke on religious conversion, deteriorating law and order and corruption.
The ruling Congress based its campaign on the slew of welfare schemes of the Baghel government for farmers, women, tribals and Dalits, and also attacked the BJP-led Centre for “handing over†resources to “industrialist friendsâ€.
