Election Commission reveals voting dates for 5 key states; results on December 3

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Monday announced poll schedule for five key states including Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana and Mizoram.

The polls will take place between November 7 and November 30, 2023, with results coming out on December 3, 2023, for all five states. The term of legislative assemblies of Telangana, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram and Rajasthan end in December-January. The EC had recently completed its poll preparedness review for the five states.

"As we stand on the cusp of elections in these states, it is worth noting that these polls hold a unique significance, but also for the nation," said Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar. He also said that EC has given special emphasis on making electoral rolls inclusive, with focus on "roll-to-poll conversion".


The upcoming state polls are being considered as a semi-final before the 2024 assembly elections. It will be a major test for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after its defeat in the Karnataka assembly elections earlier this year. The Lok Sabha polls are due in 2024.

While the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) rules Telangana, Madhya Pradesh is ruled by the BJP. The Congress is in power in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. The Mizo National Front is in power in the northeastern state.

Election Schedule:

State	Seats	Poll Dates	Phase	Counting of Votes
Mizoram	40	November 7, 2023	One phase	December 3, 2023
Madhya Pradesh	230	November 17, 2023	One phase	December 3, 2023
Chhattisgarh	90	November 7, November 17, 2023	Two phases	December 3, 2023
Rajasthan	200	November 25, 2023	One phase	December 3, 2023
Telangana	119	November 30, 2023	One phase	December 3, 2023

Madhya Pradesh

The state of Madhya Pradesh will vote on November 17, 2023. The elections will be held in one phase, said the Election Commission while revealing the dates.

In the 2018 elections, Congress had won 114 seats of the 230 seats with a vote share of 41.5 per cent while the BJP came second and managed to win 109 seats. But in 2020, the Congress government lost its majority after some MLAs belonging to a faction led by Jyotiraditya Scindia resigned and later joined the BJP, which came back to power with Shivraj Singh Chouhan as the chief minister.

Rajasthan

Elections in Rajasthan will be held on November 25, 2023. The 200-seat assembly will vote in one phase, as per the schedule released.

In the last assembly elections, the Congress had emerged as the single-largest party, managing to win 99 seats, falling short by 1 seat to secure the majority mark in state. However, the party formed the state government after an alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party and the support of independent MLAs. BJP had secured 73 seats in Rajasthan.

Telangana

Voting in Telangana for 119 seats will be held in one phase on November 30, 2023, said the Election Commission.

In the previous polls held in 2018, BRS managed to win 88 seats out of 119, with a dominant vote share of 47.4%. Congress had come a distant second with 19 seats.

Telangana is expected to witness a triangular contest between the BJP, the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi and the Congress in the upcoming assembly elections.

Chhattisgarh

Elections in Chhattisgarh will be conducted in two phases on November 7 and November 17, 2023. It is the only state, out of the five poll-bound states, where polls are being held in two phases.

In 2018, the Congress party had bagged 68 out of 90 seats with a vote share of 43.9%. BJP came in at distant second with 15 seats in Chhattisgarh.

MizoramThe 40-seat assembly will vote on November 7, 2023. In Mizoram, Mizo National Front had managed to win 26 seats with a vote share of 37.8% in the year 2018.

According to the CEC, Mizoram has 8.52 lakh voters, Chhattisgarh has 2.03 crore, Madhya Pradesh has 5.6 crore, Rajasthan has 5.2 crore and Telangana has 3.17 crore voters. Total voters in these states would be totaling to 8.2 crore male and 7.8 crore female voters.