List of Legislative Assembly Elections 2018: Schedule & Dates of 8 States Going For Polls In India Awaited

New Delhi, January 5: In 2017, a large part of the country's population casted their vote and exercised their franchise to choose a government for their states. During the recent elections in India, the incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) proved its might in Gujarat yet again by retaining their seat of power. In Himachal Pradesh, the BJP dislodged the ruling party- Congress and won with a thumping majority even in the hill state. The Congress won just in Punjab, with the ruling BJP-SAD combine out of the legislative assembly. 2017 has been a game-changing year that witnessed the BJP spreading its influence over a major part of the country. However, it has to be noted that the upcoming elections in 2018 can change the situations for leading parties in the eight states of India namely- Meghalaya, Tripura, Nagaland, Karnataka, Mizoram, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

The Gujarat Assembly Election 2017 for the 14th assembly was held in two phases- i.e. on December 9, 2017 and December 14, 2017. The counting of votes for the Gujarat Assembly Election 2017 was held on Dec 18, 2017 where the BJP won convincingly while the Congress emerged the runner-up. The BJP government returned to power to serve a third consecutive term in the state. Meanwhile, the Himachal Pradesh assembly elections was held in a single-phase on November 9, 2017 and the counting was done on December 18, 2017.

Like 2017, this year is also going to be important for politics in India as 8 states are going for elections just before general elections in 2019. The states include Meghalaya, Tripura, Nagaland, Karnataka, Mizoram, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. The Lok Sabha polls will be held in 2019 and it remains to be seen whether the BJP will be able to emerge victorious the second time.  Earlier in 2017, 5 Indian states comprising of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Punjab and Manipur had gone to poll followed by Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh during the year-end.

Meghalaya:

The legislative assembly election in the state will be held on February 27, 2018 to elect all the 60 members to the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly. The incumbent Congress government, led by Chief Minister Mukul Sangma, will try to win a re-election for the third time in a row. The dates of polling are yet to be announced by the Election Commission. It has to be noted that the tenure of present assembly, elected in March 2013, ends on March 6, 2018.

At present, there are currently 17.68 lakh voters in Meghalaya, out of which 8.93 lakh voters are females. The number of first-time voters in the state is 45%. The election commission is setting up 3,082 polling booths in the state, out of which 60 booths with be pink booths - one in each constituency run completely by women

Tripura:

The legislative assembly election will be held on February 18, 2018 to elect members of the 60 constituencies in the state. The tenure of Tripura assembly ends in March 6, 2018. In 2017 elections, Tripura saw the implementation of VVPAT for the first time. The dates of polling are yet to be announced by the Election Commission. The Tripura Assembly is unicameral with 60 Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLA). The members are elected for a term of five years, unless the Assembly is dissolved prior to the completion of the term.

Nagaland:

The polling for the legislative assembly election for Nagaland will be held on February 27, 2018 to elect members of the 60 constituencies in the state. The tenure of Nagaland assembly ends on March 13, 2018. The Democratic Alliance of Nagaland is a state level coalition of political parties of the state. It headed the Nagaland government with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Janata Dal (United) (JDU). It is formed in 2003 after Nagaland Legislative Assembly election with Naga People's Front (NPF) and BJP. The alliance is in power in Nagaland since 2003.

Karnataka:

The tenure of Karnataka assembly ends on May 28, 2018. The legislative assembly election for the southern state will be held in 2018 to elect members of the 224 constituencies in Karnataka.  At present, the ruling party in Karnataka is the Indian National Congress. It has to be noted that Karnataka has a parliamentary system of government with two democratically elected houses, the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council. The Legislative Assembly consists of 224 members who are elected for five-year terms. The Legislative Council is a permanent body of 75 members with one-third (25 members) retiring every two years.

Mizoram:

The tenure of Mizoram assembly ends in Dec 15, 2018. The legislative assembly election will be held in 2018 to elect members of the 40 constituencies in Mizoram.  The dates of the election are yet to be announced by the Election Commission of India.  The Congress is the ruling party in the state. The ruling party had won absolute majority by acquiring 33 of the 40 seats in the elections, defeating Mizo National Front, Mizoram People’s Conference, as well the ZNP. The rival party, Mizo National Front, bagged 5 seats: Tuikum, Saiha, Aizawl West-I, Aizawl West-II, Aizawl West-III, as compared with three seats in 2008 assembly elections.

Chhattisgarh:

Voting for Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly will be held in 2018 to elect members from the 90 constituencies in Chhattisgarh. The tenure of Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly ends on January 5 2019. The dates of the election are yet to be announced. Currently, the ruling party in the state is the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Madhya Pradesh:

Elections to the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly will be held in 2018. This years elections will elect members of the 230 constituencies in Madhya Pradesh. The tenure of Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly ends on 7 January 2019. Currently, the state is under the rule of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).  The dates of the election are yet to be announced by the Election Commission of India.

Rajasthan:

The election for the legislative assembly of Rajasthan will be held in 2018. This election is important as it will elect members of the 200 constituencies in Rajasthan. The tenure of Rajasthan assembly ends in January 20, 2019. At present, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is the ruling party in the state.  Every election, the two dominant political parties in Rajasthan are the Indian National Congress (INC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

As per details on election.in, the first assembly election of 2018 will be held in Meghalaya in February-March while polling in states like Nagaland and Tripura will soon follow. The Karnataka election is expected to take place in April-May while that of Mizoram is expected to take place towards the end of the year from October-November. Meanwhile, Rajasthan's assembly election is expected to begin in December 2018 and will carry into 2019.

India has a multi-party system. Some of the major political parties in India are: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Indian National Congress, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Samajwadi Party, Communist Party of India (CPI), Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Janata Dal United (JDU), Shiv Sena. There are also various regional parties in India.

To recall, BJP's biggest win this year was Uttar Pradesh. Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath led a team of over 300 lawmakers in the country's largest state Assembly. The BJP also won Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa while in Punjab, Amarinder Singh won to retain a seat for Congress' in the state.  After the recent Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh election, only nine states remain outside BJP or the BJP-alliance. The states include Tamil Nadu which is with AIADMK, Kerala which is ruled by CPI-M, West Bengal  which is ruled by Trinamool Congress (TMC), Odisha which is ruled by Biju Janata Dal, Meghalaya  that is currently under the rule of the Congress party, Telangana which is ruled by Telangana Rashtra Samiti, Mizoram which is under the  Congress rule, the national capital New Delhi which is ruled by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Tripura, which is under the rule of CPI-M.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 05, 2018 06:57 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).