Maharashtra, Haryana see moderate to brisk voting in initial hours
Mumbai: Nearly 100 million Indians will vote in state elections on Wednesday in the biggest test of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity since he came to power in May. Five months after Modi’s rightwing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won a landslide national victory, voters will elect two state Assemblies—in Haryana and Maharashtra. Polling began at 7am and will conclude at 6pm in both the states. Counting of votes will be held on 19 October, poll officials said. Maharashtra People were queuing at polling stations before the voting began amid tight security to elect the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly.
The BJP has fielded 280 candidates in Maharashtra, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) 260, Communist Party of India (CPI) 34, Communist Party of India (Marxist) 19, Congress 287, Nationalist Congress Party 278, Shiv Sena 282 and Maharshtra Navnirman Sena has fielded 219. Among the early voters were NCP’s Ajit Pawar, former deputy chief minister and MP Supriya Sule and Pratibha Pawar in Baramati, leader of opposition in legislative council Vinod Tawde in Mumbai and BJP’s Pankaja Munde in Beed, where by-election is also being held for Lok Sabha seat following the death of her father Gopinath Munde in a road accident. Modi has been campaigning extensively, particularly in Maharashtra, aware that an endorsement in state polls and especially in India’s financial capital could help him push through his promised economic reforms. “He has to once again prove he is a vote-getter. There’s a lot at stake for him,” said Sudheendra Kulkarni, a political analyst at the Observer Research Foundation think-tank.
As in the nationwide vote, the BJP is expected to benefit from anger and fatigue towards the Congress party, which was kicked out of central government in May and has held power in Maharashtra and Haryana for a decade. The confident BJP has taken the risk of campaigning alone in both states after severing ties with its allies, including the far-right Shiv Sena, its partner in Maharashtra for 25 years. The BJP lacks a regional party figurehead with appeal across the western state, so Modi has addressed 27 rallies, calling for a clear majority for good governance and slamming the “feudal” politics of his opponents. “Will you wipe out thieves and robbers in this election? Maharashtra should be freed from the clutches of dynastic rule,” he said on Tuesday, the last day of campaigning.
pratima kumari
Mumbai: Nearly 100 million Indians will vote in state elections on Wednesday in the biggest test of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity since he came to power in May. Five months after Modi’s rightwing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won a landslide national victory, voters will elect two state Assemblies—in Haryana and Maharashtra. Polling began at 7am and will conclude at 6pm in both the states. Counting of votes will be held on 19 October, poll officials said. Maharashtra People were queuing at polling stations before the voting began amid tight security to elect the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly.
The BJP has fielded 280 candidates in Maharashtra, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) 260, Communist Party of India (CPI) 34, Communist Party of India (Marxist) 19, Congress 287, Nationalist Congress Party 278, Shiv Sena 282 and Maharshtra Navnirman Sena has fielded 219. Among the early voters were NCP’s Ajit Pawar, former deputy chief minister and MP Supriya Sule and Pratibha Pawar in Baramati, leader of opposition in legislative council Vinod Tawde in Mumbai and BJP’s Pankaja Munde in Beed, where by-election is also being held for Lok Sabha seat following the death of her father Gopinath Munde in a road accident. Modi has been campaigning extensively, particularly in Maharashtra, aware that an endorsement in state polls and especially in India’s financial capital could help him push through his promised economic reforms. “He has to once again prove he is a vote-getter. There’s a lot at stake for him,” said Sudheendra Kulkarni, a political analyst at the Observer Research Foundation think-tank.
As in the nationwide vote, the BJP is expected to benefit from anger and fatigue towards the Congress party, which was kicked out of central government in May and has held power in Maharashtra and Haryana for a decade. The confident BJP has taken the risk of campaigning alone in both states after severing ties with its allies, including the far-right Shiv Sena, its partner in Maharashtra for 25 years. The BJP lacks a regional party figurehead with appeal across the western state, so Modi has addressed 27 rallies, calling for a clear majority for good governance and slamming the “feudal” politics of his opponents. “Will you wipe out thieves and robbers in this election? Maharashtra should be freed from the clutches of dynastic rule,” he said on Tuesday, the last day of campaigning.
pratima kumari
pgdm 3rd sem
comment:-
The BJP lacks a regional party figurehead with appeal across the western state
No comments:
Post a Comment