Semi-final before LS elections: Mizoram, Chhattisgarh to kick off 5-state poll battles on November 7

NEW DELHI: The stage is set for the penultimate electoral battles in five states in what is being seen as the semi-final before the action moves to the national stage next year.

On November 7, Mizoram and Chhattisgarh will go to polls to kick off the final assembly elections of 2023.

While all 40 seats in Mizoram will go to polls on Tuesday, Chhattisgarh will vote in two phases - with 20 out of 90 constituencies casting ballots in the first phase.

Also See: Chhattisgarh Elections 2023 | Mizoram Elections 2023

Here's all you need to know
Congress vs BJP in Chhattisgarh
The tribal state will witness a direct clash between the ruling Congress and the rival BJP.

The Aam Aadmi Party has also fielded candidates in 57 seats while Mayawati-led BSP is contesting with regional party Gondwana Ganatantra Party.

In 2018, the Congress had wrested power from the Raman Singh-led BJP after winning 68 out of the 90 seats in the state.

Bhupesh Baghel, who was sworn in as the chief minister, has been the biggest draw for the Congress in the 2023 elections and has led the party's campaign from the front.



The campaigning saw a heated political clash between Congress and BJP, with both the parties going all out to woo the voters.

The first phase of campaigning saw Prime Minister Narendra Modi attacking chief minister Bhupesh Baghel over the alleged Mahadev betting app scam.

Other leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party spoke on religious conversion, deteriorating law and order and corruption.

Meanwhile, the 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 friends".

Poll schedule & seats
Polling will take place in 20 seats across seven districts of the Maoist-affected Bastar division and four other districts, namely Rajnandgaon, Mohla-Manpur-Ambagarh Chowki, Kabirdham and Khairagarh-Chhuikhadan-Gandai.

Polling in Mohla-Manpur, Antagarh, Bhanupratappur, Kanker, Keshkal, Kondagaon, Narayanpur, Dantewada, Bijapur and Konta (all reserved for Scheduled Tribe category) constituencies will take place from 7am to 3pm, officials said.




Polling will take place between 8am and 5pm in the remaining 10 seats, namely Khairgarh, Dongargarh (Scheduled Caste), Rajnandgaon, Dongargaon, Khujji, Pandariya, Kawardha, Bastar (ST), Jagdalpur and Chitrakot (ST).

In the first phase, the political fate of 223 candidates, including 25 women, will be decided by 40,78,681 voters, including 19,93,937 male, 20,84,675 female and 69 third-gender persons, while 5304 polling booths have been set up for the first phase, he said.

State Congress chief and MP Deepak Baij (Chitrakot), ministers Kawasi Lakhma (Konta), Mohan Markam (Kondagaon) and Mohammad Akbar (Kawardha) and Chhavindra Karma (Dantewada) are among the prominent candidates from ruling Congress in the first phase.

The main candidates from the BJP in this phase are former chief minister Raman Singh (Rajnandgaon) and former state ministers Kedar Kashyap (Narayanpur), Lata Usendi (Kondagaon), Vikram Usendi (Antagarh) and Mahesh Gagda (Bijapur). Former IAS officer Neelkanth Tekam is contesting from Keshkal.

Congress has fielded its senior OBC leader and chairman of Chhattisgarh Mineral Development Corporation Girish Dewangan against Raman Singh from Rajnandgaon.


MNF looks to retain grip on power
In Mizoram, the Mizo National Front (MNF) led by chief minister Zoramthanga is hoping to retain its grip on power.

In 2018, the MNF won 28 out of the state's 40 seats.

The ruling MNF, main opposition party Zoram People's Movement (ZPM) and Congress have fielded 40 candidates each.

The BJP and debutant Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) are contesting in 23 and 4 seats, respectively.

Interestingly, Mizoram is the only northeastern state where BJP is not part of the ruling alliance.



During campaigning, MNF tried to capitalise on the issue of refugees and internally displaced people from Myanmar, Bangladesh and Manipur and Mizo sub-nationalism besides highlighting the development in the state over the last five years despite financial constraints triggered by the pandemic.

The opposition highlighted the failure of the MNF government in fulfilling its promises, including implementation of the flagship programme, Socio Economic Development (SEDP), construction of flyovers, good roads, among others.

The ZPM banked on its policy of change and introduction of a new system of governance.

More than 8.57 lakh electorates, including 4,39,026 women, will decide the fate of 174 candidates.

Results for both the states, along with that of poll-bound Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Telangana, will be announced on December 3.

(With inputs from PTI)

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