Stage is set for elections to the assemblies of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana and Mizoram with the Election Commission set to announce poll scheduled today.
The EC will hold a press conference at noon.
Last time, the EC has announced the polls to these five states on October 6, 2018.
Polls were held in a single phase in all states except Chhattisgarh where two phase elections were held.
The elections are key as they are viewed as a precursor to the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
The BJP is in power in Madhya Pradesh where it’s chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan faces an 18 year anti-incumbency.
The Congress is in power in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh and BRS in Telangana.
For the Congress, the poll cycle is particularly crucial as it holds power on its own only in four states, including Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.
The grand old party would need to retain the two states to stay afloat as the principal opposition amid a growing recalibration of opposition forces and fluidity over the face of the anti BJP alliance.
The Congress is a key constituent of anti-BJP INDIA bloc but its heft in the alliance would depend on its electoral presence which will be tested in the upcoming five state elections.
The BJP, too, faces a tough contest with the Congress continuing its policies of freebies in all poll-bound states and adding the demand of caste census, which could alter the electoral matrix.
The BJP has accused the Congress of seeking to divide the people.
The BJP has also been attacking the opposition as a group of dynasts out to further personal agendas.
