In fact, this will also be the one of the biggest elections held after the 2019 General Elections. In both States the anti-incumbency factor would play a role and people should judge the government on their performance and deliveries. Both the BJP-led governments in the States had sought help of the Central government ministers and Prime Minister to help them campaign and seek votes from the electorate.
Polling will also be held for by-elections for one Lok Sabha seat in Samastipur, Bihar and 64 Assembly constituencies nationwide. Votes will also be cast in Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, MP, Meghalaya, Odisha, Puducherry, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh as part of by-elections.
As far as the two major States are concerned, in Maharashtra, the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) are contesting together with a seat-sharing plan, the parties will fight about 123-125 seats each and have left 41 seats for smaller allies in a 288-member legislature. In Haryana, the contest is for 90 seats of the Assembly.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Maharashtra has played its local and political card by proposing the names of Mahatma Phule, Savitribai Phule and Veer Savarkar for the Bharat Ratna among promises of one crore jobs and better healthcare facilities. Homes to all homeless by 2022, Rs 5 lakh crore investments in infrastructure, social security net for workers, health and quality education are among the promises made by the BJP for the upcoming elections.
On the last day of campaigning for the Maharashtra and Haryana Assembly elections, which was on Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a rally at Rewari and Sirsa in Haryana, while Union Home Minister Amit Shah held rallies in Maharashtra. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis held a roadshow in Nagpur while NCP chief Sharad Pawar addressed an election rally in Satara on Saturday.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is ruling in Haryana and in alliance with Shiv Sena in Maharashtra. Even though there is a pre-poll alliance between BJP and Shiv Sena as against the last Assembly polls, when they contested individually, a perfect cohesion between the two parties during campaign seems wanting. In fact both parties have already started pitching names for the Chief Minister’s seat. On the other hand the Congress remains dependent on regional parties as the arm twisting continued at the ground level, making Congress feel that the times have changed for them.
Also, the Congress emerging image which is not very encouraging as a political party, has been portrayed due to their inner squabbling and infighting as solving brewing crises in the party’s leadership. Both the States will eagerly wait for October 24 when counting will take place and the results will be announced. Modi will campaign in Charkhi Dadri and Kurukshetra, while Gandhi will hold rallies in Yavatmal and Wardha.
In Haryana, the Manohar Lal Khattar’s government had kicked off its poll campaign for the Assembly elections as early as August 18 this year against the Congress, the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) and the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP), which are the major opposition parties in the State. The Congress which is in salvage mode after the crisis emerged due to stepping down of Rahul Gandhi announced former Union minister Kumari Selja as the Congress State unit head in Haryana as late as September. The Congress’s main poll planks in the Haryana elections are lack of employment, economic slowdown and non-performance of the State government.
Campaigning in Maharashtra and Haryana for the Assembly elections 2019 concluded on Saturday with political leaders making last-ditch efforts to woo voters through rallies and road shows. A total of 8,74,34,919 (8.7 crore) are eligible voters in Maharashtra while Haryana has 2,90,00521 electorate (2.9 crore) who are likely to exercise their franchise.
The term of the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly ends on November 9 and that of the 90-member Haryana assembly on November 2 and the results will be declared on October 24, giving ample time for both States to form their respective governments. On October 24 the result will prove in numbers what the electorate wants from their leaders and what they need to deliver to their voters. If they do not respect the mandate then the leaders will have to face the wrath of the electorate.
