Maharashtra, Haryana go to polls on October 21
ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS First test for BJP after party’s 2019 Lok Sabha victory
NEWDELHI: The Election Commission has announced that the next set of state assembly polls — in Maharashtra and Haryana — will take place on October 21. The results will be declared on October 24.
Both states have governments led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which have completed their five-year terms. Devendra Fadnavis became the first figure from the party to lead a government as chief minister (CM) in Maharashtra in 2014 -the BJP had been a junior partner when in government earlier. Manohar Lal Khattar has led BJP’S first-ever majority government in Haryana in this period. They will lead the party’s campaign in their respective states.
At a press conference in New Delhi on Saturday, chief election commissioner Sunil Arora also added that bypolls will be held in 64 assembly constituencies across different states, and one Lok Sabha constituency, on the same day.
Both national-level factors, and specific state-level configurations and issues, are expected to influence the elections in both states and the bypolls.
This is the first round of elections after the Lok Sabha polls, which resulted in a second cons ecuti ve win, and an e ven greater majority for the BJP. The state polls also come in the wake of key decisions taken by the Narendra Modi government, including the passage of the triple talaq bill, and the end of the special status to Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) — issues the BJP is expected to raise on the campaign trail. The polls will also be held amid concerns about the economy after the GDP growth in the first quarter of the fiscal year slowed down to 5% — an issue the Opposition is expected to raise.
The polls will also be a test of whether BJP and Modi’s popularity remains intact — the PM has already begun campaigning in both states and appealed to voters to continue to repose faith in the party. Alternately, it will provide a glimpse of whether the Opposition has been able to regroup to pose an electoral challenge after its rout in the Lok Sabha polls.
But while this will serve as the national backdrop, both states have their own particularities, political context, social groups, and issues, which will play a key role in determining the outcome.
The Maharashtra assembly has 288 seats. There are two broad formations. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) of the BJP and the Shiv Sena is likely to take on the CongressNationalist Congress Party (NCP) combine.
This is distinct from the last state polls, when all the four par
2014 TALLY Maharashtra
122 BJP 63 Shiv Sena 42 Congress 41 NCP 20 Others
Haryana
47 BJP 15 Congress 19 INLD 9 Others