"Hopefully we will get another five years to serve...": Chhattisgarh Deputy CM TS Singh Deo

NEW DELHI: Ahead of the announcement to be made by the Election Commission of India on the schedule for the upcoming Assembly elections in the five states, Chhattisgarh Deputy CM TS Singh Deo said that he is hopeful that Congress will get another five years to serve the public of the state.

Speaking to ANI, TS Singh Deo said, "The sooner (elections) the better. Nowadays, there are five years to prepare for the elections, whatever work you do from the day you get the responsibility is seen as preparation for elections. We focussed on important issues for the public. Hopefully, we will get another five years to serve."

Adding that the Congress government in the state has successfully controlled Naxalism in the last five years, he said, "Recently a Naxal incident came up, an incident also surfaced from Ujjain at the same time. Such incidents are less related to the government and more related to morbid psychology. If the government knows that something is going to happen and they don't take action, then it is the government's responsibility. But when a person with a morbid mentality commits such crimes, which government can predict this?" Chhattisgarh BJP President Arun Sao said that it is time for the Congress to depart from the state. "The people of Chhattisgarh have made up their minds to oust Congress from the state. A new dawn will come. Our state will become crime-free. It's time for our rivals (Congress) to go," he said.

In 2018, Congress managed to win 68 seats out of 90 in Chhattisgarh. The party garnered a vote share of 43.9 per cent. BJP won 15 seats and managed to gather vote share of 33.6 per cent.

Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh minister Vishwas Sarang exuded confidence and said that BJP will win more than 150 seats. "BJP will fight the elections with complete preparation. A very successful model of the double-engine government has been established in Madhya Pradesh under PM Modi's leadership. MP is a state that is developing very fast. We will win more than 150 seats this time," he said.

Pointing out that the whole of Madhya Pradesh is waiting for the BJP to go out of power Congress MLA Kunal Chaudhary said, "It is clear that the people of Madhya Pradesh had been waiting for the elections to remove the BJP from power. The people, parties and the whole state are waiting for the BJP to go out of power."

In Madhya Pradesh, the state will elect legislators from 230 Assembly constituencies.

In the 2018 elections, Congress won 114 seats with a vote share of 41.5 per cent while the BJP came second and managed to win 109 seats. Its vote share was 41.6 per cent.

However, in 2020, the Congress government lost the majority after the resignations of some MLAs belonging to a faction led by Jyotiraditya Scindia, who later joined the BJP.

After this, the BJP formed the government in the state and Shivraj Singh Chouhan was reinstated as the Chief Minister. The Election Commission of India is set to announce the schedule for the upcoming Assembly elections of Mizoram, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Telangana on Monday.