Assembly Election 2023 LIVE: Hello and welcome to ABP Live Assembly Elections 2023 Live Blog. Follow this space for all the latest developments on polls to the five state assemblies.
As the scheduled Assembly elections in five Indian states draw closer, political parties are actively announcing their candidates for the upcoming polls. The elections will span from November 7 to November 30, with Mizoram, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana, and Chhattisgarh all set to cast their votes.
The Congress party, on Saturday, released its first list of 33 candidates for the Rajasthan Assembly elections. Notable names in the list include Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, who will be contesting from Sardarpura, and his former deputy Sachin Pilot, who will seek election from Tonk. In addition, Speaker C P Joshi will run for re-election from his Nathdwara assembly seat. Govind Singh Dotasra, the president of the party’s state unit, is set to contest from Lachhmangarh. Minister Harish Chaudhary and Mamata Bhupesh have also found a place on the list and will be vying for the Baytoo and Sikrai-SC seats, respectively. However, the Congress is yet to reveal its candidates for the majority of the seats. The Central Election Committee of the party is scheduled to meet on Sunday to finalize additional names. The Rajasthan Assembly polls are slated for November 25.
On the other hand, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) unveiled a fifth list featuring 92 candidates for the upcoming Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections. This list included the exclusion of sitting Indore-3 MLA Akash Vijayvargiya, son of the prominent party figure Kailash Vijayvargiya, who will be contesting from the Indore-1 segment. Rakesh Golu Shukla will replace Akash Vijayvargiya in the Indore-3 constituency. Shukla is the cousin of Sanjay Shukla, the Congress legislator representing Indore-1. Notably, Kailash Vijayvargiya had earlier announced that Akash Vijayvargiya had written to BJP President JP Nadda, requesting not to be considered for the ticket, as his father was already in the race. Moreover, former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s nephew, Anup Mishra, was denied a ticket, seemingly putting an end to his aspirations for the Gwalior South seat.
In a further development, the Congress appointed former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan and party leader M S Boseraju as special observers for the Telangana Assembly elections scheduled for November 30. Additionally, Ajoy Kumar was named AICC observer for media preparations in Telangana, Supriya Shrinate for the poll-bound Madhya Pradesh, and deputy leader in Rajya Sabha Pramod Tiwari for Chhattisgarh.