A semi-final before general election

Team Blitz India

NEW DELHI: The Election Commission has sounded the poll bugle by announcing the Assembly election schedule for Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Rajasthan and Telangana. While Mizoram will go to the polls on November 7, Naxal-infested Chhattisgarh is the only state to have a two-phase polling on November 7 and November 17.

In Madhya Pradesh, the polling will be held on November 17 and in Rajasthan on November 25. Telangana will be the last to go for polls on November 30. Counting will be held on December 3.

With Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the lead, the BJP has already snatched the initiative by launching election campaign in the poll-bound states and fielding party heavyweights, including Union Ministers, in crucial states like Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

It hopes to snatch power from the Congress-ruled states of Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, retain its stronghold in Madhya Pradesh and break new ground in BRS-ruled Telangana.

The Congress, on the other hand, is fighting a battle of survival. It is striving to retain power in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, where its chief ministers have been on a last-minute freebie-declaring spree to overcome anti-incumbency.

The outcome of assembly elections does not necessarily reflect the electorate’s choice in Lok Sabha. In 2019, though the BJP grabbed most Lok Sabha seats,some states went to non-BJP parties.

Despite failing to project a face against PM Modi at the national level, the Congress-led INDIA is hoping that these assembly elections could show the wind is changing ahead of 2024 general election when PM Modi seeks a third term, with a record mandate.

To divert attention from the Modi government’s achievements during the last nine years, the Opposition has raised the bogey for a caste census and an OBC quota within the women’s quota provided in the recently held special session of Parliament.

Battle for five states