The battle for the Maharashtra and Jharkhand Assemblies is in full swing. While the first phase of voting in the Jharkhand Assembly elections took place on November 13, the second phase is scheduled for November 20.
The tribal rights dominate the election campaign in Jharkhand, while reservation policies take centre stage in Maharashtra. The counting of votes for both states will take place on November 23. Here is the assembly election news wrap.
The battle for the Maharashtra and Jharkhand Assemblies is in full swing. While the first phase of voting in the Jharkhand Assembly elections took place on November 13, the second phase is scheduled for November 20.
In Maharashtra, voting for all the seats take place in a single phase on November 20.
The counting of votes for both the Maharashtra and Jharkhand State Assembly election, as well as by-elections for 31 seats across the country, will take place on November 23.
In Jharkhand, tribal rights remain a central issue in the election campaign. The BJP has been raising the topic of Bangladeshi and Rohingya ‘infiltration’. From Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Home Minister Amit Shah, and from Himanta Biswa Sarma to Rajnath Singh, prominent BJP leaders have raised the spectre of Bangladeshi "infiltrators" in Jharkhand.
In contrast, the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) has downplayed the issue, instead accusing the central government of failing to provide funds owed to Jharkhand. Chief Minister Hemant Soren has further accused the BJP-led Centre of fabricating a case against him.
In Maharashtra, reservation policies are taking centre stage. The demand for reservation for Marathas, who make up 30 percent of the state's population, is a key issue in this election. The dominant Maratha and OBC communities are divided over the contentious reservation issue. A crucial battleground in this election will be the Marathwada region, where reservation policies and caste dynamics are central to the political discourse.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma once again claimed that Bangladeshi infiltrators were posing a threat to Jharkhand's culture and society.
"Bangladeshi infiltrators are entering Jharkhand, marrying tribal girls, and grabbing their lands. They know the art of land and love jihad. They are posing a threat to our society and culture," Sarma, the BJP's election co-in charge for the Jharkhand assembly polls, said while addressing a rally in Godda on Sunday.
Meanwhile, BJP President JP Nadda on Sunday also accused the JMM-led coalition government in Jharkhand of providing shelter to Bangladeshi infiltrators and engaging in widespread corruption. Speaking at three election rallies in the state, Nadda claimed that the government facilitated illegal land allocation and documentation for infiltrators while betraying the people of Jharkhand.
In other news, taking serious note of complaints from the Congress and the JMM against a "misleading and malicious" video posted by the Jharkhand BJP on social media platforms, the Election Commission on Sunday directed the state poll chief to instruct the party to take down the post. It also sought an explanation from the state BJP for the alleged violation of the provisions of the model code of conduct by posting the video.
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Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday promised to remove the 50 percent cap on reservations and conduct a caste census in the country.
“Caste census is the biggest issue before us, and we will get it done; it is our central pillar,” Gandhi said at a press conference in Mumbai.
Gandhi described the November 20 Maharashtra assembly elections as a battle of ideologies, and a fight between a few billionaires and the poor.
Many CM faces in MVA? Senior Congress leader and Maharashtra assembly poll candidate Arif Naseem Khan said there are many chief ministerial faces in the Maha Vikas Aghadi, and the alliance will take a decision on it after the election results are announced. In an interview with PTI, Khan said, "The Congress never contests elections by declaring a 'CM face'. We always fight on the basis of development and ideology.”
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has said it was the Congress that amended the Constitution during the Emergency in 1975 but is now making baseless claims that the BJP plans to alter the statute. Addressing a rally in Maharashtra's Thane city on Sunday night ahead of the November 20 state assembly polls, Gadkari asserted that no one can alter the salient features of the Constitution. Notably, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and other senior party leaders have claimed in their poll rallies that the BJP is working to dismantle the Constitution.
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The two main alliances, Mahayuti and Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), are set to lock horns, while other political parties such as Raj Thackeray’s MNS, Prakash Ambedkar’s Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi, and Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM are striving for impactful gains in the battleground of Maharashtra.
The ruling Mahayuti alliance comprises the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena, and the Ajit Pawar-led faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). On the other side, the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) consists of Congress, Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena (UBT), Sharad Pawar’s NCP (SP), Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party (SP), and the Peasants and Workers Party of India.