Assembly elections updates, 8 October 2018: Congress hits out at Centre over timing of Karnataka bypolls

The results in the Assembly elections are likely to have a huge impact on the Lok Sabha elections that are due in 2019.

Political parties are in top gear with the Election Commission announcing dates for Assembly polls in five states. The poll body announced that voting in Chhattisgarh will be held in two phases on 12 and 20 November while the other states will go to polls in a single phase. Voting in Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram will be held on 28 November while voting in Telangana and Rajasthan will be held on December 7. The counting for all the states will be held on December 11. While the term of the Mizoram Assembly ends on December 15, the terms of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan assemblies are to end on January 5, 2019, January 7 and January 20 respectively. 

The results in the elections are likely to have a huge impact on the Lok Sabha elections that are due in 2019. As per an opinion poll conducted by ABP News-CVoter, BJP is likely to face defeat in the upcoming assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. The survey predicted that the Congress will do exceptionally well in these three states in the upcoming assembly elections.

The survey claims that if the assembly polls are held now, the Congress is likely to win 142 seats in Rajasthan against the BJP's 56. In the 230-member Madhya Pradesh Assembly, Congress is likely to win nearly 122 seats and 47 in the 90-member Chhattisgarh Assembly. 

Catch all election-related updates here:

08 October 2018

14:56 PM

The Congress on Monday hit out at the Centre over the timing of Karnataka bypolls. Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge said that due to elections, the rehabilitation work will be delayed in the flood-affected areas. "Assembly elections are important but announcing by-poll election without taking state govt into confidence. Those who contest these will have to bear election expenses only for a term of 5-6 months. They could've stopped it but they've done this earlier too whenever they want, they postpone/pre-pone election. It wasn't needed. Some areas are facing drought, some flooded but due to Model Code of Conduct, no work can be done," Kharge said.

09:35 AM

For free and fair elections and timely allocation of electronic voting machines (EVM) for the 2019 general elections, the Election Commission said it was in the process of ensuring allocation of Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) for over 10 lakh polling stations. EC said that the mandatory First Level Checks and training to District Officers are being done to meet the requirement of 100 per cent VVPATs across approximately 10.6 lakh polling stations for the Lok Sabha Election in 2019. With around 22.3 lakh ballot Units, 16.3 lakh control units and nearly 17.3 lakh VVPATs to be used for the forthcoming elections, the poll panel said it is consistently reviewing the status of production and supply of EVMs and VVPATs by the public sector units. 

09:31 AM

The Congress seems to be under pressure from regional parties over the formation of the Mahagatbandhan. After BSP and SP's snub, Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) on Sunday said that the Congress needs to be "most accommodating". RLD vice-president Jayant Chaudhary said Congress must give respect and support to the smaller parties for a "true rainbow coalition" to emerge. He expressed confidence that a series of state-specific alliances, where like-minded parties would come together on an anti-BJP platform, was likely for the 2019 general election. Chaudhary, the son of RLD president Ajit Singh and the grandson of former prime minister Chaudhary Charan Singh, said both he and his father will contest the 2019 election but added that the constituencies would be announced later.

09:27 AM

Meanwhile, voting for municipal body elections is underway in Jammu and Kashmir. The polling for the first phase of municipal elections in 422 of the 1,145 wards is being held amid terror threats. Separatist groups and the two main regional parties, the National Conference (NC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have also given boycott calls for the elections. 

#JammuAndKashmir: Voting for municipal body elections underway at a polling booth in Bandipora pic.twitter.com/dVNz07rrwP

— ANI (@ANI) October 8, 2018

09:27 AM

Sachin Pilot claimed the BJP governments in the Centre and state showed dreams to people that they would eliminate corruption, reduce inflation and provide employment, but the claims turned out flat. He said the Congress had won the trust of people by winning bypolls on 20 out of 22 Assembly seats and appealed to the people to teach a lesson to the BJP in the upcoming Assembly elections that were due on December 7. 

09:21 AM

Hitting out at Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje Scindia, state Congress chief Sachin Pilot said it was time to wipe out the "dictatorial, arrogant government that considers people as its slaves". "The chief minister could not find time for the people after coming into power and announced free electricity to farmers just a few hours before election announcement in the state. She could not find time to see the plight of people during her tenure and is now doling out offers to woo farmers. The BJP government considers people as its slaves and it was time to wipe out the dictatorial and arrogant government," he said on Sunday while addressing Kisan Sammelan in Bharatpur district's Pahari town.