Stage set for Nov 28 polls as campaigning ends in Mizoram, MP

Aizawl: Campaigning for elections to the 40-member Mizoram Assembly ended at 4 pm on Monday, setting the stage for polling on Wednesday when 7,70,395 people are expected to cast their votes in this northeastern state.

The election machinery is fully prepared to conduct free and fair polls, the state's Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Ashish Kundra said. Speaking to reporters here, Kundra said he was "perfectly satisfied" with the arrangements.

Mizoram is the last bastion of the Congress in the northeast. The Congress has been in power in the state since 2008 and is eyeing a third consecutive term. In 2013 assembly elections, the Congress won 34 seats, while the Mizo National Front (MNF) had five and Mizoram People's Conference bagged one seat.

The Congress and the main Opposition, the MNF, have fielded 40 candidates each, while the BJP is contesting in 39 seats. The Zoram Peoples Movement (ZPM), an alliance formed by two political parties and four groups, is contesting in 35 seats.

The Mizoram Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) said that public meetings and door-to-door canvassing were organised in villages under the close supervision of the Mizoram Peoples Forum (MPF), the church-sponsored election watchdog.

Unlike in the past, this time the MNF skipped the common platform where contesting candidates share a stage. The display of flags of political parties and posters were minimised under the supervision of the flying squads and the MPF.

Election campaign offices have been opened in all the villages and more than one campaign office have been set up in larger villages and towns. Supporters of contestants were seen visiting relatives in other villages to garner support.

Campaigning has come of age in the state with the use of social media platforms like Facebook and Whatsapp. Campaigning via TV and radio was done as previous years, however this time social media was used extensively to woo younger voters.

Meanwhile, curtains came down on Monday evening on the acrimonious campaigning for the high-stakes November 28 assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, where star campaigners of the BJP, the Congress and other parties addressed a series of rallies and held roadshows to seek support for candidates.

Canvassing came to a formal end at 5 pm and voting to elect a new 230-member assembly will take place on Wednesday. As many as 2,907 candidates are in the fray.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress chief Rahul Gandhi were the star campaigners for their respective parties and addressed a number of poll rallies across the state. They freely exchanged barbs and traded charges, raising the political temperature in the central state.

National and state issues, including the Rafale deal, demonetisation, development, GST, corruption, dynastic politics and the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government's performance, among others, prominently figured in their speeches. BJP president Amit Shah, too, campaigned in the state, where his party is seeking a fourth straight term in office.

A purported video of MP Congress chief Kamal Nath on Muslim votes went viral during the last leg of electioneering with the BJP accusing the main opposition party of dividing society for electoral gains.

Two hours before the electioneering drew to a close, BJP vice-presidents Vinay Sahasrabuddhe and Prabhat Jha, addressing a press conference here, exuded confidence about the saffron outfit retaining power. Sahasrabuddhe said electioneering started with "development" and "politics of performance" being discussed, but the Congress stooped low by dragging Modi's parents into the campaigning.

Addressing a separate press meet in the afternoon, chief Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala claimed his party was set to come back to power in the state after 15 years. Surjewala targeted BJP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who is seeking a fourth term of office, over the lack of development in his assembly constituency Budhni.

The Congress leader claimed 90 per cent of people in Jait, Chouhan's native village, are living below the poverty line. He said poverty had increased in MP under the BJP rule.