Campaigning for the November 17 Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh came to an end on Wednesday evening. The fate of 2,533 candidates for the 230-member State Assembly will be decided on November 17.

Campaigning for the November 17 Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh came to an end on Wednesday evening. Leaders of parties contesting elections in the state made several promises to seek votes for their candidates while holding public meetings, road shows. A total of 2,533 candidates are in the fray for the 230 assembly seats in the state. There is a fight between the BJP and the opposition Congress for power in the state. There are at least 5,60,60,925 voters (2,88,25,607 male, 2,72,33,945 female and 1,373 third gender) in Madhya Pradesh. In the first phase of polling in Madhya Pradesh on Friday, polling will be held from 7 am to 6 pm at 2,049 polling stations in the state.

On the last day of campaigning, Mallikarjun Kharge, his party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Union Minister Smriti Irani and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, all from the BJP, addressed election rallies to woo voters for their respective candidates. On the last day of campaigning, SP president Akhilesh Yadav also addressed rallies.

Prime Minister Modi, BJP president JP Nadda, Union ministers Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan among others visited the state and addressed election meetings to garner support for the saffron party’s candidates in all the 230 seats.

Congress president Kharge, his predecessor Rahul Gandhi, party general secretaries Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Kamal Nath, Digvijaya Singh among others addressed public meetings to garner support for their 230 candidates. During the election campaign, the opposition alliance ‘India’ saw a rift with its constituents Congress, SP and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) fielding candidates against each other after failing to forge a pre-poll alliance. Their leaders also engaged in a verbal war or a verbal battle.

Modi, the BJP’s top campaigner, visited the state nine times and addressed 14 public meetings after the announcement of the poll schedule. The BJP is relying heavily on the prime minister’s charisma and popularity to retain power. The BJP’s campaign that Modi was woven around the slogan of Modi in MP’s mind and MP’s in Modi’s mind.

Modi, Shah and other BJP leaders accused the previous Congress governments in the state and at the Centre of allegedly indulging in corruption. The Congress campaign focused on a caste survey and the promise of welfare of OBCs, who constitute around 48 per cent of the state’s population. The Congress targeted the BJP government over unemployment, inflation. The election campaign brought to the fore the rift in the opposition India faction, with SP chief Akhilesh Yadav accusing the Congress of betraying him by not giving six seats to his party as promised. The Samajwadi Party has fielded 71 candidates in Madhya Pradesh.

Similarly, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener Arvind Kejriwal and his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Singh Mann addressed over 12 rallies and held roadshows in support of their 66 candidates. The Janata Dal (U), another constituent of the opposition bloc, is contesting in 10 constituencies.

The Mayawati-led BSP has fielded 183 candidates, while its ally Gondwana Gantantra Party, (a tribal organisation) has fielded over 45 candidates. BSP president Mayawati addressed 10 rallies and attacked the Congress for not acting on the Mandal Commission report while in power at the Centre.

Mayawati and Akhilesh Yadav criticised the Congress for now demanding a caste-based survey in separate election meetings and said it did nothing on the issue when it was in power after Independence. In the 2018 elections, the Congress emerged as the single largest party and formed the government under the leadership of Kamal Nath with the help of BSP, SP and Independent MLAs. However, the Kamal Nath government collapsed in March 2020 following a rebellion by Jyotiraditya Scindia and his loyal MLAs.