Assembly Elections 2019

India is a country that is divided into states and union territories and each state has a Chief Minister who is the leader of the party that has won majority of votes in the state Assembly Elections. Candidates who win in the state Assembly Elections are called Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs) and they hold their seats for five years or until the body is dissolved by the Governor.

MLAs are directly elected by voting from a set of candidates who stands in their respective constituencies, with every adult citizen of India casting their votes in their own constituencies. Elected Assembly members meet in their own respective states and deal with matters like the creation of new laws, removing or improving the existing laws that affect all citizens living in that state. The Chief Ministers have executive powers within the state and work jointly with the Prime Minister of India or his ministers on matters that require both State and Central attention.

ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS 2019:

Some states in India conducted their Assembly elections simultaneously with the general elections, which were held in seven phases from April 11 to May 19, 2019 to constitute the 17th Lok Sabha. The four states are Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha and Sikkim.

In Andhra Pradesh, the Assembly elections were held on April 11, 2019, and YS Jaganmohan Reddy's YSR Congress Party won the polls by securing 151 seats out of 175 seats, which was almost 86 per cent of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly. This was the second assembly in Andhra Pradesh after the bifurcation of the state into Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

Odisha conducted its Assembly election in 2019 in the month of April in four phases, and the Biju Janata Dal headed by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik won 112 out of the 146 seats. Elections were cancelled in Patkura assembly constituency following the death of six-time MLA and Biju Janata Dal candidate Bed Prakash Agarwalla.

Assembly elections were held in Arunachal Pradesh on April 11 and it resulted in a landslide victory for Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies. Pema Khandu, whose party changed its affiliation to the BJP in 2016, took oath as Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister on May 29, 2019.

In Sikkim, the Legislative Assembly elections were held on April 11, 2019, it is unicameral and consists of 32 MLAs. The current Chief Minister of the state is Prem Singh Tamang of the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM), which won 17 out of 32 seats in the legislative assembly.

STATES HEADED FOR POLLS:

Three states will be conducting the Assembly Elections in 2019, and they are Haryana, Maharashtra and Jharkhand.

In Haryana, the Legislative Assembly election will be held on October 21, 2019 to elect 90 members, and the results will be announced on October 24, 2019. The term of the current Legislative Assembly expires on November 2, 2019, and Manohar Lal Khattar is the Chief Minister of the state.

The Legislative Assembly election in Maharashtra will be held on October 21, 2019 to elect the 288 members, and the results will be announced on October 24, 2019. The current Chief Minister is Devendra Fadnavis and the term of his government is set to expire on November 9, 2019.

In Jharkhand, the Legislative Assembly elections are due to be held in November - December 2019 to elect 81 members. The current Chief Minister is BJP member Raghubar Das, who was elected in 2014. The term of the Jharkhand Legislative Assembly is set to end on December 27, 2019.