Madhya Pradesh set to vote tomorrow; Congress, BJP locked in battle of nerves

Madhya Pradesh is all set to vote on Wednesday to elect a 230-member assembly with the ruling BJP and opposition Congress vying for supremacy in a battle of nerves. The state will vote to either give the BJP a fourth successive term in power or give a chance to the opposition Congress to break the saffron party's monopoly over power for the last 15 years.

The electioneering saw both the BJP, which is power in Madhya Pradesh for the past 15 years, and the ruling Congress in Mizoram trying to stave off anti-incumbency to retain power.

BHOPAL: Madhya Pradesh is all set to vote on Wednesday to elect a 230-member assembly with the ruling BJP and opposition Congress vying for supremacy in a battle of nerves. The state will vote to either give the BJP a fourth successive term in power or give a chance to the opposition Congress to break the saffron party's monopoly over power for the last 15 years. The battle of ballots in Madhya Pradesh is just months ahead of the Lok Sabha polls slated in the first half of 2019. The results will be declared on December 11 along with other states. Similarly, voters in Mizoram will also exercise their franchise tomorrow. Similarly, voters in Mizoram will also exercise their franchise tomorrow. The main contest in Madhya Pradesh is between the Congress and BJP though the BSP and the SP are also in the fray. The BSP has fielded 227 candidates, while the SP is contesting on 52 seats. The AAP, contesting the Madhya Pradesh elections for the first time, has fielded 208 candidates. The polling will be held from 8 am to 5 pm in 227 seats, while in three assembly segments in Naxal-affected Balaghat district - Lanji, Paraswada and Baihar - voting time will be from 7 am to 3 pm. The campaign has been high decibel, often marked by bitter personal attacks, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress President Rahul Gandhi leading the charge of their parties. Apart from Modi's appeal, the BJP is banking on the image of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and its organisational structure. Party President Amit Shah, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and union ministers Rajnath Singh, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley campaigned in the state. The Congress put up a spirited fight by raising issues concerning people and putting up a united fight by keeping the issue of leadership at bay. Rahul Gandhi sought to rejuvenate the state unit by appointing Kamal Nath as the party chief in April this year and naming Jyotiraditya Scindia, MP, as the campaign chief. Congress leaders have sought to highlight the problems of farmers, the poor, middle class and youths in their rallies holding, especially holding demonetisation and GST as the reasons for the agrarian distress and traders' plight. Rahul Gandhi attacked Modi and his government on issues of corruption and promises made in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and by Shivraj Chauhan in the 2013 elections. He has promised a farm loan waiver within 10 days of Congress coming power. National issues like surgical strike, construction of Ram temple, caste and dynasty were raised with the campaign barely revolving around the issue the development. Modi attacked the Congress on corruption, dynasty politics and several other issues and gave accounts of the achievements of the state and his own government. In the last assembly polls, the BJP had won 165 seats, the Congress 58, the BSP four and the independents three seats. (With inputs from agencies)