Campaign ends in two states High-octane battle between Cong, MNF

MP Close contest between Congress and BJP, say experts

BHOPAL: The high-decibel campaign that witnessed several acrimonious exchanges came to an end at 5 pm on Monday.

Political observers say that the battle for the state assembly elections to be held on Wednesday is a close contest between the ruling Bharatiya Janta Party and Congress.

Over 50 million voters will decide whether the BJP, which has ruled the state since 2003, will be fourth time lucky.

The other parties in the fray are the Bahujan Samaj Party, alliance partners Samajwadi Party and Gondwana Gantantra Party, and the Aam Admi Party.

MP is the largest of five states going for polls and contributes the largest number of MPS to the Lok Sabha (29) among them.

Congress national president Rahul Gandhi made eight visits to the state starting June and visited all regions of the state, holding nearly 20 public meetings and half a dozen road shows. He was accompanied by state Congress chief Kamal Nath, campaign committee chairman Jyotiraditya Scindia, and other top state leaders.

Independently, Scindia is estimated to have held over 100 public meetings and a dozen road shows, while Nath held over 60 public meetings and a dozen road shows.

In contrast, Prime Minister Narendra Modi kicked off his MP campaign only on November 16. He also visited the Vindhya region, which has 30 seats in the 230-member strong state assembly.

Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s much-touted Jan Ashirwad Yatra, which began in July and sought to visit all the state’s assembly constituencies was called off abruptly in October, after covering 187 seats.

MADHYA PRADESH IS THE LARGEST OF 5 STATES GOING FOR POLLS AND SENDS THE MOST MEMBERS TO THE LOK SABHA (29) AMONG THEM.

The BJP attacked Rahul Gandhi and compared the development in MP over the last 13 years to the 10-year Congress rule from 1993-2003.

On Monday BJP national vice president Prabhat Jha said the Congress’s attack on the PM’S parents was condemnable.

The Congress’s campaign involved a mix of local and national issues, including the alleged corruption in the Rafale deal, farm distress, lack of development and unemployment, corruption, lack of security for women and atrocities on Dalits and adivasis.

Congress leader Raj Babbar in Indore last week compared the falling value of rupee against US dollar with the age of the prime minister’s mother.

State Congress media-incharge Shobha Oza said, “It was unfortunate to note that during the campaign, the PM and CM who hold constitutional posts didn’t refrain from telling lies that Congress had not waived loans in Punjab and Karnataka.”

Votes will be counted on December 11. GUWAHATI: Campaigning for the 40 assembly seats in Mizoram, which goes to polls on November 28, ended on Monday evening.

Mizoram has over 768,000 voters who will decide the fate of 209 candidates, 18 of them women. The state will have 1,164 polling stations across all eight districts.

“We had a good campaign and are hopeful. But non-availability of adequate funds for campaigning could affect our prospects. It is all up to voters now,” said JV Hluna, Mizoram BJP president.

While Congress president Rahul Gandhi drummed up support for the ruling party, the BJP’S campaign witnessed rallies by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, party president Amit Shah and union home minister Rajnath Singh.

Nearly 11,000 Bru voters, living in six relief camps in Tripura are expected to vote. The Brus are a scheduled tribe who had fled Mizoram in 1997 following ethnic clashes. They can cast their ballots at Kanhmun village in the Mamit district of Mizoram, located close to the border with Tripura.

The issue also led to the removal of a Mizo IAS officer from his post and the subsequent transfer of chief electoral officer SB Shashank.

“Forty companies of central police forces have been deployed across the state along with state police to ensure voting goes off smoothly. Nearly 10,000 personnel including polling officers will be on duty on November 28,” said chief electoral officer, Ashish Kundra.

Like previous polls, the direct contest is between the ruling Congress (in power since 2008) and the Mizo National Front (MNF).

Several others including the BJP, the National People’s Party and the Zoram Peoples Movement (ZPM) could play crucial roles in the poll.