Assembly elections 2023: Polling countdown begins as campaigning for Mizoram, Chhattisgarh Phase 1 to end today

livemint.com:

Associate of Democratic Reforms (ADR), BJP has the largest share of candidates with criminal backgrounds who will be contesting in the upcoming Chattisgarh state assembly elections. Out of the all the candidates, 26 disclosed a criminal case on them.

25% of BJP contestants have a criminal record, the report showed. The report also highlighted that a total of 46 candidates (21%) have net worth in crores.

Congress has fielded more high asset value candidates than its competitors as 17 out of 20 candidates are crorepatis as compared to 14 (70 percent) out of 20 candidates from BJP, 3 (30 percent) out of 10 candidates analysed from AAP and 2 (13 percent) out of 15 candidates from Janta Congress Chhattisgarh (J). The state which is currently governed by the Congress-led Bhupesh Baghel's government is under the ED scanner as it has claimed that that the promoters of the illegal Mahadev betting app had paid CM Baghel ₹508 crore.

In Mizoram, BJP leader and election co-in-charge for Mizoram, Anil Antony has exuded confidence in winning the assembly polls in the northeastern state, claiming that the party is poised to achieve its best-ever performance in the polls. "BJP is contesting 23 seats here, and we are very confident that we will be strongly contesting and winning most of the seats we are contesting here, and I can assure you that this will be our best ever performance in the state of Mizoram..." Anil Antony told news agency ANI.

This time, the Zoramthanga-led MNF has a slight advantage, but the Zoram People's Movement is predicted to be a significant player in the upcoming elections. As per the Chief Electoral Officer office, till Saturday, as many as 2,058 votes have been cast through home voting and 7,497 votes through