Assembly Polls: ‘Will Protect Culture, Customs’, Says Kharge

On Tuesday, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge appealed to the people to vote for the grand old party “as it will protect the culture and customs”.

In a post on X, Kharge said, “Chhattisgarhiya is the best! Today the first phase of voting has started in Chhattisgarh state. We appeal to every voter, especially the youth who are voting for the first time, to vote.” He added, “We have full confidence that there will be governance on the basis of justice in Chhattisgarh and faith in democracy will remain intact.”

In an appeal to the people of Mizoram, the Congress chief said, “People of Mizoram are looking towards protecting their culture, customs, land, forest and the Mizo way of life. They want a peaceful, stable, development-oriented government. Today is the time to choose it. Welcome our first-time voters to participate in this democratic process for a better future. Urge our sisters and brothers of Mizoram to participate in large numbers and usher in change.”

Voting began on Tuesday morning for the 40-member Mizoram Assembly. In Chhattisgarh, the voting is underway in 20 out of 90 assembly seats in the first phase. Voting for the remaining 70 seats in Chhattisgarh will be held on November 17. The counting of votes will take place on December 03.

Chhattisgarh is a landlocked state in Central India. It is the ninth largest state by area, and with a population of roughly 30 million, the seventeenth most populous. It borders seven states – Uttar Pradesh to the north, Madhya Pradesh to the northwest, Maharashtra to the southwest, Jharkhand to the northeast, Odisha to the east, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana to the south. Formerly a part of Madhya Pradesh, it was granted statehood on 1 November 2000 with Raipur as the designated state capital.

Chhattisgarh is one of the fastest-developing states in India. Its Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) is ₹5.09 lakh crore (US$64 billion) (2023–24 est.), with a per capita GSDP of ₹152,348 (US$1,900) (2023–24 est.). A resource-rich state, it has the third largest coal reserves in the country and provides electricity, coal, and steel to the rest of the nation. It also has the third largest forest cover in the country after Madhya Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh, with over 40% of the state covered by forests.

Mizoram is a state in northeast India, with Aizawl as its seat of government and capital city. The name of the state is derived from “Mizo”, the endonym of the native inhabitants, and “Ram”, which in the Mizo language means “land.” Thus “Mizo-ram” means “land of the Mizos”. Within India’s northeast region, it is the southernmost landlocked state, sharing borders with three of the Seven Sister States, namely Tripura, Assam and Manipur. The state also shares a 722-kilometre (449 mi) border with the neighbouring countries of Bangladesh and Myanmar.

Like several other northeastern states of India, Mizoram was previously part of Assam until 1972, when it was carved out as a Union Territory. In 1986, the Indian Parliament adopted the 53rd amendment of the Indian Constitution, which allowed for the creation of the State of Mizoram on 20 February 1987, as India’s 23rd state.

According to a 2011 census, in that year Mizoram’s population was 1,091,014. It is the 2nd least populous state in the country (after Sikkim, with population of 610,577 in 2011). Mizoram spans over an area of approximately 21,087 square kilometres, of which approximately 91% is forested.