New Delhi (Reuters) – Five Indian states will elect new legislatures next month, independent election panel said on Monday, beginning a process of regional polls ahead of national elections due next year.
The elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram are expected to give an indication of voter mood, especially in the heartland states which are key to the fortunes of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Votes in all five states will be counted on Dec. 3 and results expected the same day, the panel said.
Modi and BJP remain popular after nearly a decade in power nationally and surveys suggest he is expected to win a third term in general elections due by May 2024.
Voters, however, are unhappy with high inflation, unemployment and an uneven economic recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic and a new alliance of 28 opposition parties called INDIA has been formed to jointly challenge BJP nationally.
Congress, India’s main opposition party which leads the INDIA alliance, is in power in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. BJP rules the central state of Madhya Pradesh and its ally is in power in the small northeastern state of Mizoram.
Telangana in the south is ruled by Bharat Rashtra Samithi, a strong regional party.
BJP is expected to face tough fights in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh and Modi has been campaigning in these states even before election dates were announced.
