Election Commission announces poll dates for five states; voters to get Right to reject option

NEW DELHI: Election season 2013-14 has begun. Eleven crore voters in five states will exercise their franchise between November 11 and December 4 - according to the assembly election schedule announced by the Election Commission on Friday. The votes will be counted on December 8.

The fate of four high-profile chief ministers will be decided in the polls, and the results will be read for clues to the big fight - general elections in 2014.

Although Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram represent a relatively small part of the Indian electoral map, these assembly elections are being seen as a sort of a test run for Congress and BJP, which are pretty much face to face in all the election-bound states barring Mizoram.

These state elections will be the first to offer voters the 'None of the Above' (NOTA) choice in the electronic voting machines. This comes after the recent Supreme Court ruling in favour of such an option for voters.

These polls will also see the political debut of Arvind Kejriwal and his Aam Aadmi Party in the elections for Delhi assembly.

Sheila Dikshit and Ashok Gehlot of Congress, in Delhi and Rajasthan, respectively, and Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Raman Singh of BJP, in MP and Chhattisgarh, respectively, are the two national parties' high-profile chief ministers in the contest. Dikshit, Chouhan and Singh have all overcome incumbency before.

Chhattisgarh will be the first state to go to polls and voting will be done in two phases because of security threats from Maoists. Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi and Mizoram will follow, but will have single-phase polls.

There will be 1.3 lakh polling stations in the five states, and the model code of conduct has come into immediate effect.

These assembly elections will be read closely for any indication of a national mood either for Narendra Modi-led BJP or Congress. Shock defeats for either party in these elections will not sit well with preparations for the national campaign.

However, recent history shows the November-December round of assembly elections every five years are no predictors of general elections that happen soon after. In 2003, BJP, in power at the Centre, won MP, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, but lost in the 2004 general elections. In 2008, Congress and BJP spilt the spoils, winning two states each, but Congress won handsomely in the 2009 general elections.

Still, pundits and politicians will examine the results of December 8 for signs of what may come in a few months time.