Madhya Pradesh Assembly Elections 2018: All you need to know

The Madhya Pradesh Assembly Election is also seen as one of the crucial assembly election which will spell out the mood of the people.

The election commission on Saturday announced the dates for polling in the five states- Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram and Telangana for the assembly elections. The Chief Election Commissioner OP Rawat informed that the polling in Madhya Pradesh will be held on 28th November in one phase and the notification will be sent in this state on 2nd November.

The last date of filing the nominations is November 9 while the final date of scrutiny of the candidate is November 12. The candidates can withdraw their nominations by November 14. The counting of results will take place on December 11.

The state of Madhya Pradesh which is called the “Heart of India” will be the Centre stage for the heated political exchange in the upcoming days. The two major political parties in the state- the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress have sounded the poll bugle in the state. While Congress President Rahul Gandhi recently conducted a two-day visit to the state, Prime Minister Modi attended Ashara Mubaraka, an event organized by the Dawoodi Bohra community in Madhya Pradesh.

The Madhya Pradesh Assembly Election is also seen as one of the crucial assembly election which will spell out the mood of the people. Here is everything you need to know about the state:

Demographics:

According to the 2011 census, the total population of Madhya Pradesh is 72,626,809 which is 20.3% of the total Indian population. Out of which male and female are 37,612,306 and 35,014,503 respectively. The population of Madhya Pradesh consists of a number of ethnic groups and tribes, castes and communities, including the indigenous tribals and relatively more recent migrants from other states. The scheduled castes and the scheduled tribes constitute a significant portion of the population of the State.

The main tribal groups in Madhya Pradesh are Gond, Bhil, Baiga, Korku, Bhatia (or Bharatiya), Halba, Kaul, Mariya, Malto, and Sahariya. More than 50% of the state’s tribal population is concentrated in Dhar, Jhabua, and Mandla districts while Khargaon, Chhindwara, Seoni, Sidhi, Singrauli, and Shahdol districts have 30–50% population that is of tribes. According to the 2011 census, the Adivasi population in Madhya Pradesh was 73.34 million, constituting 21.1% of the total population. There were 46 recognized Scheduled Tribes and three of them have been identified as “Special Primitive Tribal Groups” in the State.

The majority of the Madhya Pradesh’s population i.e. 90.9% follows Hinduism, while others are Muslim constitute (6.6%), Jain (0.8%), Buddhists (0.3%), Christians (0.3%), and Sikhs (0.2%) of the population.

Out of total population of Madhya Pradesh, 27.63% people live in urban regions. The total figure of population living in urban areas is 2 crores while the rural population is way higher i.e. 5 crores 25 lakhs.

Voter Population:

The total voting population in Madhya Pradesh is 5,03,94,086 out of which 15,78,167 are voters in the age 18-19 years old i.e. first time voters. Out of the total electors 2.6 crores are male, 2.4 crores are female while 1410 are third gender

Major Political Parties:

There are total six national parties in the state including Bharatiya Janata Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, Communist Party of India, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Indian National Congress and Nationalist Congress Party. There are as many as nine regional parties including Janata Dal (Secular), Janata Dal (United), Samajwadi Party, etc.

Constituencies:

There are total 230 assembly constituencies in Madhya Pradesh. While 148 seats are for General category contestants, 35 seats are reserved for the SC candidates and 47 are reserved for the ST candidates.

MP Assembly Elections 2013 result:

The Bharatiya Janata Party has been ruling the state of Madhya Pradesh since last 15 years. In 2013 Assembly election, the party won 165 seats while Congress won only 58 seats. The BSP won 4 seats while Independents won 3 seats. The total votes polled for BJP were 1,51,91,335 i.e. 44.88% of the total voter percentage. On the other hand, total 1,23,15,253 votes were polled for Congress with 36.38% of the total voter percentage.

Congress vs BJP:

• Congress

The Congress is banking heavily on the anti-incumbency factor to win the elections. The BJP has been in power for 15 years, and Shivraj Singh Chouhan has been the chief minister for almost 13 years. In the past year, he has had to contend with a spate of violence in the state, following farmer agitations and Dalit protests. Undeterred by these setbacks, however, he has been campaigning fervently, reminding voters of his development initiatives and wooing them with various subsidies, schemes, and gifts.

Earlier, an integral part of the Congress support base came from the Adivasi and Dalit communities. The party is trying to woo them back. The party is also targeting the Hindu community of the state which constitutes 90% of the population of the state. Recently, Congress promised to construct Gau-shala, complete farm loan waiver for the upset farming community.

Prominent Leaders: Kamal Nath, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Digvijaya Singh

• BJP

The BJP will bank on its ability to organize itself on the ground and on the RSS’ work. Like Modi, Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s image has been cast as a pro-development leader. The anti-Congress propaganda includes a warning to the people about Congress leader Digvijay Singh’s tenure as a chief minister which was synonymous with bad roads and lack of electricity. The BJP is set to project its development indices and pro-farmer budget to boost its election campaign. Shivraj Singh is also introducing several schemes and policies for the women in the state.

Prominent leaders: Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Kailash Vijayavargiya, Yashodhara Raje Scindia