Election Commission of India has announced the dates for the Assembly Elections of Maharashtra and Haryana.
The polling will be held on October 21st and the counting will be on October 24th.
The notification for both states will be on September 27th, last date of nomination is October 4th, scrutiny of nomination will be on October 5th and last date for withdrawal of candidature is on October 7th.
In 2014, the Election Commission had announced the dates for Maharashtra and Haryana Assembly Election on September 12 and the results were announced on October 19.
The term of the Maharashtra assembly ends on November 9 and the term of Haryana assembly ends on November 2.
Model code of conduct has come into place immediately after announcement of the dates and no new announcements can be done by the existing government.
Sources claim that the Bjp will be promoting young leadership at the grassroot level and the assembly elections stands as an opportunity to do this and the party will field those leaders who have newly joined Bjp from other parties.
In both Maharashtra and Haryana states Congress is the main political opponent of Bjp which stands an advantage for the party citing the shameful defeat of Congress in the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections. But, the Maharashtra election is sure to keep people in the edge of their seats as Shiv Sena is an ally of the Bjp in the state which shares a love-hate relationship with the party.
First time after 25 years BJP and Shiv Sena had contested the elections separately in Maharashtra. Bjp fell short of the majority mark by winning only 122 seats out of 288 seats while Shiv Sena had won 63 seats. Later, both the parties formed an alliance and Devendra Fadnavis was elected as the Chief Minister.
This time the two parties have agreed to fight the elections with equal number of seats, following the discussions in February between Home Minister Amit Shah and Shiv Sena Supremo Uddhav Thackeray.
This time Uddhav Thackeray is now more conciliatory mode unlike in 2014 as he has seen the results of 2019 Lok Sabha Election results.
It is said that Bjp has made it clear that after out the seats the parties have won in 2014, the remaining seats will be distributed equally which will leave Shiv Sena with 115 seats. But Thackeray raised an objection stating that Fadnavis had promised the equal distribution of seats in the assembly elections.
Apparently, if the talks with Shiv Sena fail and the latter pulls of the alliance, Bjp would surely face a setback but the damage to Shiv Sena will be greater and it is quite a relief to Bjp.
But while the Bjp-Shiv Sena alliance seems strong, the Congress is in worst condition today than it was five years ago and Sharad Pawar’s NCP is a bit down in the dumps.
Also looking at the history,one cannot rule out the possibility of last minute surprises by the Shiv Sena party.
Well, let’s see why the upcoming Assembly elections are important
- The upcoming Assembly elections will be a test of PM Modi;s popularity after 2019 Lok Sabha Elections.
- The Congress which faced defeat in Lok Sabha Elections will go into polls of the two states. Rahul Gandhi’s resignation immediately after the Lok Sabha Elections might affect the Assembly Elections.
- Maharashtra is dominated by Marathas but Devendra Fadanavis, a Brahmin was made as the chief minister of the state. The response of the Marathas on this decision is yet to be known in the upcoming elections.
- First Elections after the abrogation of Article 370 and banning of Triple Talaq. The scrapping of article 370 is an assertion of their agenda and the party is awaiting positive response on this move in the upcoming Assembly Elections.
Also the elections will give an insight into what the Muslim women feel about the ban on Triple Talaq and BJP’s policies.
Bjp is jubilant over its performance in the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections and is filled with optimism as it approaches the upcoming Maharashtra assembly, while Congress is in a state of confusion and the sense of drift in Congress is quite evident.
Sharanya Alva
