The Election Commission of India Monday announced the schedule for the assembly elections in five states – Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana and Mizoram. The first state to go to polls will be Mizoram where assembly elections will be held on November 7. The assembly elections in Chhattisgarh will be held in two phases with first phase voting on November 7 and second phase voting on November 17.

Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections will be held on November 17 in a single phase, followed by Rajasthan on November 23. Telangana will be the last state to go to polls on November 30. The counting of votes in all the five states will take place on December 3.

Mizoram Assembly Elections Full Schedule: Voting for the 40-member Mizoram legislative assembly will be held on November 7. A Gazette notification regarding the same will be issued on October 13. The last date of filing nominations will be October 20 and the last date for withdrawal of candidature will be October 23. There are a total of 8.52 eligible voters in Mizoram.

Chhattisgarh Assembly Elections Full Schedule: Assembly elections in Chhattisgarh will be held in two phases. The first phase of voting will start on November 7 and the second phase of voting will be held on November 17. Chhattisgarh has 2.03 crore eligible voters.

Madhya Pradesh Assembly Elections Full Schedule: Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh will be held on November 17 and a Gazette Notification for the same will be issued on October 21. The last date of nomination filing in Madhya Pradesh is October 30 and the last date for withdrawal of candidature will be November 2. According to the election commission data, there are 5.6 crore eligible voters in Madhya Pradesh.

Rajasthan Assembly Elections Full Schedule: The elections to 200-member Rajasthan legislative assembly will be held on November 23. The last date of making nominations will be November 6, while the same for withdrawal of candidature will be November 9. Rajasthan has 5.25 crore voters.

Telangana Assembly Elections Full Schedule: The south Indian state of Telangana will go to polls on November 30. A Gazette Notification regarding the same will be issued on November 3 and the last date of filing nominations will be November 10. The last date of withdrawal of candidature will be November 15. There are 3.17 crore voters in Telangana.

Addressing a press conference, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said that 1.77 lakh polling stations will be set up in 679 constituencies for the upcoming Assembly elections 2023 in these five states.

“There will be 17,734 Model polling stations, 621 Polling stations will be managed by PwD staff, and at 8,192 PS women will be in command,” he added.

These assembly elections will be a major test for all the major political parties, including the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the main opposition Congress, and the regional parties in the run up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

The Congress is in power in two of the five states – Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, while the BJP is the ruling party in Madhya Pradesh. The KCR-led Bharat Rashtra Samiti is in power in Telangana, and the Mizo National Front (MNF) is in power in Mizoram.

The terms of the legislative assemblies in these five states are due to expire between December 2023 and January 2024. With the announcement of the poll schedule, a model code of conduct has also come into effect in the five states where elections will be held.