The State is ready to witness high-stakes battle on November 17, as the Election Commission of India (ECI) declared that polling in State will be held on November 17. Most important is it is a single-phase election. Counting will take place on December 3. The 230-member Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly is currently led by the BJP, which has been in power for the last 15 years in the State. In 2018 elections Congress formed the government but it collapsed just after 15 months. This time it is expected that the State will witness neck and neck fight. Both the parties are leaving no stone unturned. In 2018, the Congress won the elections but with a wafer thin victory with the support of independent candidates it came to power. But in by-poll elections, BJP had improved the performance. This time, BJP has showered sops of welfare schemes like Ladli Bahana etc. while Congress is enthused with Karnataka poll results and incumbency factor. After winning Mayor post at Singrauli, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) also hopes to make its mark in this elections.

 

Before announcing the schedule, the ECI on Friday had told poll observers to be visible, accessible, neutral and ethical in their functioning. CEC Kumar directed them to ensure a level-playing field by working in a co-ordinated manner to ensure free, fair and inducement-free polls. He added that the ECI was “increasingly concentrating on having a humane face, by facilitating and including persons with disabilities, senior citizens who are 80 years or above and particularly vulnerable tribal groups with the help of special provisions such as home voting and accessible polling stations.” EC Goel also reminded observers that they are the eyes and ears of the ECI and should deal with complaints promptly. EC Pandey said the polls should not only be fair but also seen to be fair. He instructed the observers to keep an eye on social media and ensure corrective actions.

 

Recently, the Madhya Pradesh Election Commission released the final electoral roll for the upcoming state assembly elections. The State has 56,136,229 eligible voters, including 75,304 service voters. Madhya Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer Anupam Rajan announced that the state has 56,060,925 general voters that includes 28,825,607 male and 27,233,945 female voters. Officers in the districts will honour the voters above 80 years of age in their respective areas at their place of residence. political parties will have to publish reason behind fielding candidates with criminal backgrounds in News papers. “Candidates with criminal background will have to give their information in three newspapers. It will be needed to mention about- what crimes are registered against them. Political parties will also have to explain why they have given ticket to such a person ?” Congress is all set to fight the BJP while both the parties will attempt to get a foothold in the 230 assembly seats, currently led by the BJP.