© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
The battle for the Madhya Pradesh Assembly is witnessing a neck-and-neck fight between the ruling BJP and Congress as per the poll trends on Tuesday. Trends released for all 230 seats show the two parties intermittently edging past each other.
Madhya Pradesh, being the second largest state in the country, holds a significant position in the north India politics which has been dominated by the BJP of late. While Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is seeking his fourth consecutive term, the Congress, under the leadership of veteran Kamal Nath, would be hoping to regain its place in the Hindi heartland.
Here are ten things to know about the Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections:
1. The Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly comprises of 231 members — 230 of which are elected through elections while one member is selected through nomination. Currently, the BJP occupies majority in the Assembly with 165 MLAs, while Congress has 58 MLAs.
2. Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the Congress Tuesday on the results of Assembly elections in three states- Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan-where the opposition party is leading over the BJP. The Prime Minister said the BJP “accepts the people’s mandate with humility”, thanking the people of the three North Indian states that had been the party’s bastion.
3. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan won from the Budhni constituency, with 123492 votes, ahead of Congress’ Arun Subhashchandra. Chouhan has been winning the seat since 2003. The BJP, however, is leading in 109 seats in the state, behind the Congress, which is leading in 114 seats.
4. The Congress has begun celebrating the election results in Madhya Pradesh. Leading in 113 seats, the party is two seats ahead of the BJP which is leading in 110 seats.
5. Congress chief Rahul Gandhi addressed the press after results of state Assembly elections showed the party in lead in three states-Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. Hinting at a post-poll alliance, the party president said the ideology of the SP, BSP and the Congress is the same-against the BJP. In Madhya Pradesh, the SP and BSP are leading on 1 and 2 seats respectively. “Selection of chief ministers in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh will be done smoothly,” he added saying.
6. Mayawati could play the kingmaker in Madhya Pradesh, with both the BJP and the Congress inching towards the 116-victory mark. The BSP is leading in 4 seats in the state. As the see-saw battle continues, BSP chief Mayawati has reportedly called all her winning MLAs to New Delhi for a meeting. The Congress will be hoping to stitch a post-poll alliance with the BSP, after the latter pulled out of a proposed pre-alliance following a disagreement over seat-sharing.
7. While the Congress is yet to declare its chief ministerial candidate- with speculations dwindling between Kamal Nath and Jyotiraditya Scindia-the BJP has again decided to go with Shivraj Singh Chouhan who has been holding their fort here since the last 15 years and is now seeking his fourth consecutive term.
8. The BJP is facing anti-incumbency in Madhya Pradesh where it has been in power for 15 years. The state sends 29 MPs to the Lok Sabha and hence holds relevance for both the BJP and the Congress before next year’s general elections.
9. A number of odds were against the BJP’s favour. Madhya Pradesh has one of the highest number of farmers’ suicides in the country. Further, the Mandsaur firing last year leading to the deaths of five protesting farmers has also tarnished Chouhan’s image in recent times.
Poll result analysis
10. The Congress manifesto, chose to absorb more ‘soft Hindutva’ elements to woo the majority Hindu vote and shed its ‘pro-Muslim’ party image. Barring Punjab, the grand old party has been nearly wiped out from the north India politics due to BJP’s aggressive Hindutva politics and would be hoping to gain some ground before the Lok Sabha elections next year.
