Bhubaneswar: The Election Commission of India on Monday announced schedule of elections to Legislative Assemblies of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Rajasthan and Telangana.
The elections will begin on November 7 in Chhattisgarh and Mizoram. Chhattisgarh will go to the polls in two phases– November 7 and November 17. Polling in Madhya Pradesh will take place on November 17. Rajasthan and Telangana will go to polls on November 23 and 30 respectively. “Counting for all states will take place on December 3.
This has also put an end to speculation of early elections in Odisha.
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar said that 1.77 lakh polling stations will be set up in 679 assembly constituencies in the five states for the upcoming polls. “There will be 17,734 model polling stations, 621 polling stations will be managed by PwD staff, while women will be in command at 8,192,” he said.
Over 1 lakh polling stations will have a webcasting facility. Average elector per polling station is well below ECI norms of 1500 electors per polling station in all five states, he said.
The CEC further informed that the total voters in Mizoram are 8.52 lakh, 2.03 crore in Chhattisgarh, 5.6 crore in Madhya Pradesh, 5.25 crore in Rajasthan and 3.17 crore in Telangana. “Around 60 lakh first time voters (18-19 years) will participate in elections. 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,” he said.
The CEC said that citizens can report any kind of electoral malpractices to ECI through ECI’s cVigil App. For every complaint, there will be a response in 100 minutes, he said.
“With over 940 inter-state border check posts in five states, we will be able to check any cross-border movement of illicit cash, liquor, freebies and drugs,” he added.
The terms of the legislative assemblies of Telangana, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan end on different dates in January next year. The Mizo National Front is in power in the northeastern state. Telangana is ruled by Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) while Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is in power in Madhya Pradesh. The Congress has governments in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan.
