MP, Mizoram Polls 2018 LIVE updates: 75% polling in Mizoram, 74.6% in MP

In Mizoram, Congress will fight tooth and nail to save its last bastion in the North-East from falling. In the Christian dominated state, BJP’s pro-Hindutva image has done it any service and any party that is seen canoodling with the saffron party. Incumbent Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla’s tenure ends on December 15. Congress, the Mizo National Front (MNF), the Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM), and the Bharatiya Janata Party are the main political parties in the battle for Mizoram.

Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram Assembly Elections – LIVE updates

11:50 am: Voter turnout in Mizoram is at 29 percent till 11 am, as per ANI. In 2013 State Assembly Elections, the north-eastern state saw 89 percent voter turnout. Meanwhile in MP, 13.63% voter turnout was recorded till 11.15 am.

11:10 am: Special arrangements have been made to facilitate voting by members of the Bru community. Food and transport facilities are also being provided to those coming to cast votes. Violence between Mizo and Bru tribes broke out in 1997, following which many Bru families were forced to flee their home state and take shelter in the neighbouring Tripura.

10:44 am: After a person was arrested after BJP polling agents were found carrying campaign material within 200 meters of a polling booth in MP, another case of violation of section 126 of the Representation of People Act, 1951. The Election Commision is expected to look into the matter.

10: 30 am: After initial reports of multiple Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) not working, over 100 EVMs have been replaced, chief electoral officer V Kantha Rao was quoted by reports as saying.

10:19 am: Earlier, Kamal Nath after casting his vote in Chhindwara said, “I have full faith in the people of Madhya Pradesh, they are simple and innocent people who have been robbed for a long time by BJP”.

In true democratic spirit, a 101-year-old woman was spotted outside the polling booth in Agar Malwa in MP after exercising her franchise:

10:02 am: In violation of election code of conduct, a person was apprehended after BJP’s polling agents were caught with campaign material within 200 meters of a polling booth in MP.

9:50 am: Mizoram has witnessed 15 percent voting till 9 am, as per ANI. The voting in the North-eastern state started at 7 am and will continue till 4 pm. Mizoram’s borders with neighbouring Tripura, Assam and Manipur as well as international borders with Myanmar and Bangladesh have been sealed since Sunday for elections.

9:37 am: After claiming yesterday that there is pro-incumbency and not anti-incumbency in the state, CM Shivraj Chouhan after casting his vote in Budhni on Wednesday said he is confident that BJP will form the government with absolute majority. “We’re 100% certain that BJP will form the government with an absolute majority. We have set a target of 200 seats and our lakhs of volunteers are working to make it a reality,” he told ANI.

9:22 am: There have been reports of EVMs not working in some of the booths in MP. Two faulty EVMs in Ujjain have been replaced, 11 VVPAT machines in Alirajpur, 5 VVPAT and 2 EVMs in Burhanpur also replaced. It was earlier reported that EVM at polling booth number 178 in Dabra, Gwalior district is not working.

9:03 am: In MP, a total of 5,04,95,251 voters will cast their votes to decide the fate of 2,907 candidates. Voting in three Maoist-affected seats Lanji, Paraswada and Baihar began at 7 am and will continue till 3 pm while the polling in the remaining 227 seats began at 8 am and will continue till 5 pm.

8:48 am: Congress leader Kamal Nath cast his vote in Chhindwara while MP minister and BJP leader Yashodhara Raje Scindia cast her vote at a polling station in Shivpuri. She is up against Congress’ Siddharth Lada.

8:34 am: Mizoram has 7,70,395 registered electors who will vote in 1,164 polling booths across the state. Nearly 209 candidates are in the fray. Here are some visuals of voters as they exercise their franchise:

8:22 am: Both BJP and Congress leaders made temple runs as polling began in MP. MP CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan offered prayers on banks of Narmada river in Budhni with his wife Sadhna Singh. Meanwhile, Congress leader Kamal Nath made his obeisance at Hanuman temple in Chhindwara.

8:13 am: Polling in Maoist-affected constituencies began early in Madhya Pradesh while voting in the rest of the state started at 8 am. The most-watched seat today is CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s Budhni. He is pitted against Congress’ Arun Yadav there.

8:03 am: In Mizoram, all booths will be connected wirelessly leaving no “shadow areas”. The state has a hilly terrain which makes access to certain locations difficult. Mizoram Deputy Inspector General of Police earlier Joseph Lalchhuana earlier told PTI the move will help in timely reporting of the progress in polls.

7:45 am: On the eve of MP polls, Shivraj Singh Chouhan who is the longest-serving chief minister of the state told PTI that pro-incumbency and not anti-incumbency is at play in the state. “What is at work here is pro-incumbency and not anti-incumbency,” said the 59-year-old BJP leader, whose party has been in power in the state since 2003,” he told PTI.

7:30 am: Voting in MP will begin at 8 am. About 500 ‘pink’ polling booths all across MP which will completely be managed by all-woman staff. From presiding officers till security guards, these booths will have all women staff.

579 Candidates Withdraw Nominations Ahead Of Rajasthan Assembly Polls : EC

At least 579 candidates withdrew their nominations for the upcoming Rajasthan Assembly polls on Thursday, an official said.

Among the prominent leaders who withdrew their nominations include Gyan Dev Ahuja and Bhawani Singh Rajawat whereas in the Congress, Ramchandra Sardana also decided not to contest the polls following talks with senior party leaders.

According to the chief electoral officer, 579 candidates have withdrawn their nominations and the figure is likely to be updated further.

Till November 19, 3,293 candidates had filed 4,285 nominations, of which 612 nominations were rejected, he said.

Disclaimer: RSS has been taken from their official website.

Rajasthan: Total 3,294 file nominations for polls

In Rajasthan, total 3 thousand two hundred 94 candidates have filed nominations for the polls. Record 2 thousand 242 candidates filed their nomination on the last day yesterday.

AIR correspondent reports that according to Election Department, 3 thousand 12 male, 2 hundred 81 females and one transgender have filed nominations.

7 hundred 66 candidates from Scheduled Caste and 3 hundred 69 candidates from Scheduled tribes are included in the list of candidates. One thousand 5 hundred 25 persons have filed nominations as an independent candidate.

Maximum 71 candidates filed nominations on Kishanpole Seat and 65 persons filed nomination on Adarsh Nagar seat. Senior leaders of BJP and Congress now trying to convince their rebel candidates to withdraw their nominations.

In Telangana, a total of 3,584 candidates have filed their nominations. Over 2,000 nominations were filed yesterday alone. Congress filed the highest number of 300 nominations followed by TRS – 272, BJP – 270, BSP – 182, CPIM – 64 and TDP – 52.

No Muslim among 162 BJP candidates in Rajasthan Polls : Is party back to Hindutva?

Of the 162 BJP candidates, announced so far in two instalments for the 200-member Rajasthan Assembly polling for which is due on December 7, one absence the observers have marked is of any Muslim candidate, strengthening the perception that the party is playing the Hindutva card.

Mahesh Sharma, Union Minister of State for Tourism and Culture, who comes from Alwar, strongly denies the Hindutva slant, yet there are others in the party who say the BJP knows it well that Muslims in Rajasthan don’t constitute a vote bank.

One of the sitting MLAs, Habibur Rehman from Nagaur, on Wednesday joined the Congress when he failed to find his name in the list released on Sunday.

Rahman said the BJP is playing the Hindutva card in Rajasthan.

Another state minister Yunus Khan too failed to find his name. But, unlike Rehman, Khan has expressed his loyalty to the party.

Soon after the BJP released its first list of candidates, general secretary of BJP’s Minority cell M Sadiq had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressing his concern as to how party members would reach out to the community if Muslims don’t get the party nomination.

The BJP in 2013 had fielded four Muslim candidates. Two of them were elected: Habibur Rehman from Nagaur seat and Yunus Khan from Deedwana.

“The BJP is a democratic party unlike the Congress where a board decides a candidate. The candidates are selected keeping in mind a variety of factors, including candidates’ strengths,” said Mahesh Sharma.

Avinash Rai Khanna, BJP’s Rajasthan election in-charge, said party candidates are shortlisted after ‘raishumari’ in consultation with grassroots workers as well as top leaders. He said the final BJP list is yet to come and until then no conclusion should be drawn on the composition of candidates based on caste and religion.

Rajasthan Congress vice-president Archana Sharma said, “The BJP could not perform in the state. Now they are trying to polarise the situation. But this won’t work… Rajasthan is no Uttar Pradesh.”

Salawat Khan, General Secretary, BJP Minority Morcha, said in the last elections, the party gave four tickets to Muslims. “So far we have not been given any party nomination. We are still hopeful that the party would consider candidates from the community,” he said.

In 2013 polls, the BJP had swept 163 of 200 assembly seats in Rajasthan.

Disclaimer: RSS has been taken from their official website.

LIVE Chhattisgarh polls : 70 per cent turnout in first phase of Chhattisgarh polls: EC

70 per cent turnout in first phase of Chhattisgarh polls: EC

56.58% voter turnout recorded till 4.30 pm in the first phase of Chhattisgarh assembly polls: ANI

Break-up of polling percentage by assembly seats: 61.47% in Kondagaon; 63.51% in Keshkal; 62% in Kanker; 58% in Bastar; 49% in Dantewada; 60.5% in Khairagarh; 64% in Dongargarh; 65.5% in Khujji.

47.18% voter turnout recorded till 3 pm, reports ANI

In the first phase of the elections in Chhattisgarh, 10.7 percent voter turnout was recorded till 10 am in the 18 constituencies. These 18 constituencies are in the eight Naxal-dominated districts in south Chhattisgarh.

A total of 190 candidates, including Chief Minister Raman Singh from Rajnandgaon, are contesting in this phase. The BJP had lost 12 of these 18 seats in the last polls in 2013.

Nearly one lakh security personnel have been deployed in the Naxal-affected districts going to polls in the first phase in Chhattisgarh on Monday, amid the threat from Maoists who have called for a boycott of the elections.

On the eve of the polls, a sub-inspector of the Border Security Force (BSF) lost his life when Naxals detonated an improvised explosive device (IED) in Kanker district while a Maoist was gunned down in an encounter in Bijapur district.

Voting will be held on Monday in 18 seats spread over eight Naxal-affected districts in the state.

Naxal outfits have given calls for boycott of the election and executed over half-a-dozen attacks in the last 15 days, three of them major ones which left 13 people dead including a cameraman of national broadcaster Doordarshan who was covering the election campaign.

According to police, escorting polling parties to their destinations and bringing them back after the polls pose challenges to them in the Naxal hotbed.

“Around one lakh security personnel, including central paramilitary force, have been deployed to ensure peaceful polling in the first phase,” Chhattisgarh’s Special Director General (anti-Naxal operations) D M Awasthi told PTI.

All counter measures have been taken to thwart attempts by Maoists to disrupt the poll process, he said.

A total of 650 companies (roughly around 65,000 security personnel), including of paramilitary forces like the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), the Border Security Force (BSF), the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and other state forces, have been sent by the Centre for poll duty, he said.
These units are apart from the paramilitary personnel and 200 companies of state forces already engaged in the anti- Maoist operations in Chhattisgarh, Awasthi said.

He said around 650 polling booth parties were airlifted by helicopters on Saturday to remote areas while other teams were being sent by road on Sunday.

Choppers of the Indian Air Force and the BSF were pressed into service for the purpose, he said.

These units are apart from the paramilitary personnel and 200 companies of state forces already engaged in the anti- Maoist operations in Chhattisgarh, Awasthi said.

He said there are inputs of Naxals planning to plant IEDs to target security men. “Therefore, a hawk eye was being kept on roads in such areas,” the official said.

Awasthi said forces that have arrived from other states have been advised to avoid using any road unless it has been sanitised by “road opening parties” (ROPs) or subjected to a de-mining exercise to detect and clear IEDs.

Security men have also been asked to avoid patrolling on foot as Naxals are known to place iron spikes to inflict injuries, he said.

They have also been asked to maintain extra caution and sanitise polling booths and other premises in sensitive areas, he said.

In the last 10 days, over 300 IEDs were recovered from the Bastar region and Rajnandgaon district by security forces, he added.

Another state police official said as many as 198 polling booths have been relocated in the eight districts going to polls, in view of the Maoist threat and convenience of locals.

The highest number of 76 polling booths were shifted in Bijapur, followed by Sukma-40, Kanker-25, Dantewada-21, Narayanpur-18, Rajnandgaon-12, Kondagaon-four and Bastar- two, the official said on condition of anonymity.
Drones have been deployed in sensitive areas to track the movements of Naxals as they might target polling personnel on way to the booths, he said.

Police have been asked to maintain a strict vigil on the borders with Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha.

Due to the Naxal threat, polling in 10 constituencies – Mohla-Manpur, Antagarh, Bhanupratappur, Kanker, Keshkal, Kondagaon, Narayanpur, Dantewada, Bijapur and Konta – will start at 7 am and end at 3 pm.

In the other eight seats Khairgarh, Dongargarh, Rajnandgaon, Dongargaon, Khujji, Bastar, Jagdalpur and Chitrakot the polling time will be 8 am to 5 pm.

On November 8, four civilians and a CISF jawan were killed when Naxals detonated a bus with an IED in Dantewada district.

Before that on October 30, three police personnel and a cameraman of national broadcaster Doordarshan were killed in a Maoist attack in Aranpur area of Dantewada.

On October 27, four CRPF personnel were killed and two others injured after Maoists blew up their bullet proof bunker vehicle with an IED in Bijapur district.

Disclaimer: RSS has been taken from their official website.

BSP Announces Decision To Contest All 200 Assembly Seats In Rajasthan

The Bahujan Samaj Party or BSP is planning to contest all 200 assembly seats in Rajasthan, which is going to polls on December 7.

The party won three seats in the 2013 assembly elections by securing a 3.37 per cent vote share, which was 7.60 per cent in the 2008 elections, when the party had won six seats.

“Our preparations are in full swing and we will contest on all 200 seats in the forthcoming elections,” state party vice president Dungarram Gedar said.

In the last assembly elections, the party had contested in 195 constituencies.

He informed that the tickets will be finalised soon and BSP chief Mayawati will hold rallies in the state.

“We are expecting to increase our tally in the 2018-elections because people are unhappy with both the BJP and the Congress. There is a resentment against the ruling BJP and people are not seeing any hope in the Congress,” another BSP leader Bhagwan Singh said.

He informed that the party chief will hold rallies in different parts of the state during elections.

Districts in eastern Rajasthan like Bharatpur, Dholpur, Karauli, Sawaimadhopur, Alwar and in northern parts like Hanumangarh, Sriganganagar, Bikaner has significant number of Scheduled Castes (SC) population, which is the vote bank of the party.

In the state, there are 34 Scheduled Castes and 25 Scheduled Tribe seats out of the total 200 seats.

“The BSP is contesting solo and the Congress is going to suffer a loss,” he said on Mayawati’s recent announcement of not having alliance with the Congress for contesting assembly polls in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.

The party is contesting assembly elections in the state since 1990, but it registered its first victory in 1998 by winning two seats.

In 1998, the party had fielded 108 candidates and secured 2.17 per cent vote share.

In 2003 elections, the BSP fought in 124 constituencies and won two seats and increased its vote share to 3.98 per cent.

The biggest victory of the party in the state was in the 2008 elections when six of the party’s candidates won elections and the vote share increased to 7.60 per cent.

Disclaimer: RSS has been taken from their official website.

Fight Over Party Tickets Could Be A Problem For Rajasthan Congress

In Rajasthan, where assembly elections are scheduled for December 7, Congress has managed to put up a united face by bringing former chief minister Ashok Gehlot and state Congress chief Sachin Pilot together. But it is still trying to deal with the squabble over tickets.

At a rally in Jaipur in August, Congress president Rahul Gandhi had said no outsider would get a ticket to the assembly election. “I can guarantee you this time that not a single parachute candidate will be able to get the ticket. If any such candidate comes, I will cut the rope,” Mr Gandhi told party workers.

The party’s state election committee has put the ball in Rahul Gandhi’s court for a final decision on distribution of tickets.

Congress leaders claimed a decision on candidates at the local level could backfire at a time when the party has managed to create some political buzz in the state, which usually votes the BJP and the Congress alternately to power.

Mr Gehlot, in his ‘Sankalp Rally’ speeches, had urged Congress workers and leaders to support the candidates who are picked. He said only one person could get a Congress ticket from a seat and all party men should help that candidate win.

Kumari Selja, who was appointed chairperson of the party’s screening committee for the election in Rajasthan in June, has said only “winnable” candidates will get the tickets.

Disclaimer: RSS has been taken from their official website.

Telangana at forefront in healthcare: KTR

Minister KT Rama Rao says State government spending Rs 7,000 crore annually; praises Health Minister for his efforts

Hyderabad: The Telangana government was at the forefront of providing such healthcare, which has not been done by the public sector in the country, to the people of the State, Minister KT Rama Rao said on Sunday.

Addressing a meeting of Ayush doctors in the city, Rama Rao said the endeavour of TRS, in the future, would be to build on the work done so far with regard to healthcare and further provide improved and better medical services to the people.

A large number of Ayurveda, Unani and Homoeopathy doctors from different districts of the State attended the ‘Ayush Doctors with KTR’ meeting. Rama Rao in his address, which touched upon the various path-breaking healthcare initiatives of the Telangana government, said the State was spending Rs 7,000 crore a year on healthcare.

He also heaped praise on Health Minister Dr C Laxma Reddy under whose stewardship, medical services and facilities in Telangana practically leapfrogged on several fronts. It was the vision of Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao who wanted top-of-the-range medical care to be made available even to the poor and Dr Laxma Reddy worked hard to make this happen, Rama Rao said.

For instance, Area hospitals in the State did not have intensive care units. The previous governments were insensitive to the health needs of the people until Laxma Reddy became Health Minister. Not just that, many hospitals also now have neo-natal ICUs, he said.

Similarly, the credit for starting blood banks at hospitals across the State goes to the Health Department and TRS government. Among the facilities that were created were also the 40 dialysis centres at government hospitals, which are the only ones in the country to use single use disposable items. It was the Chief Minister’s goal of good healthcare that such developments were possible, Rama Rao said.

The Chief Minister demonstrated what a humanitarian government can achieve, he said. Thanks to programmes such as Amma Vodi, institutional deliveries increased from 30 per cent to 50 per cent in the State. This resulted in elimination of unnecessary caesarean operations and hysterectomies, which were being performed under the Arogyasri scheme just so that hospitals could make money of hapless women, Rama Rao said.

Referring to the Kanti Velugu scheme, he said very few States had interventions on to improve healthcare for the poor and needy on this scale. “There is much more to be done and we will improve the services further”, he added.

Referring to some issues raised by Ayush doctors, Rama Rao said a meeting can be arranged with some Ayush fraternity representatives where these can be discussed in detail. He also said the demand for a bridge course for Ayush doctors, who may want to also acquire an Allopathic medicine degree, would be explored. “Laxma Reddy is an Ayush doctor and is a credit for us. I am sure he will solve the problems or challenges faced by you,” Rama Rao said.

Referring to possible confusion amidst the political heat related to elections, he said, “The tu tu main main, tu kitta main kitta, dekhlenge dekhlenge, will go on. I have faith that the people are with us. TRS implemented many programmes for improving education, health and development for providing immediate relief to the poor as well meet long-term needs of the people and the next generations to come,” Rama Rao said.

Referring to the peaceful atmosphere prevalent in the State, Rama Rao said in the pat, every year curfew somewhere or the other was being clamped. “But under a secular Chief Minister who practises his faith, but also treats every other religion and belief with all the respect they deserve, there has been peace in every corner of Telangana,” he said.

Laxma Reddy said the Chief Minister’s schemes and plans in all sectors made the rest of India look at Telangana for inspiration. The Chief Minister was giving a lot of importance to healthcare for the poor, he said.

Lok Sabha member B Vinod Kumar said under the TRS government, people’s faith in government hospitals increased many fold. “Telangana is the capital of Ayush streams and there is also a need for more research in these fields,” he added

Disclaimer: RSS has been taken from their official website.
.

Congress’ Failure to Find Room For BSP in MP and Rajasthan

Reveals Split in Opposition Unity

Technically, for the Congress, the support of BSP, SP or Left may not be necessary in electoral dynamics of these three states but failure to get into some sort of understanding with these non-BJP parties creates a negative perception about mahagathbandhan.

A few days after the BSP chief had inked a deal with Ajit Jogi’s Janta Congress in Chhattisgarh, People talked about BSP-Congress alliance won’t materialise in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan as well.

BSP president Mayawati has now come on record declaring no tie up with the Congress in the above mentioned states and her party’s resolve to contest on its own.
The BSP had already declared list of 22 candidates for the 230-member MP Assembly. Following Wednesday’s press conference, Mayawati’s close aide and in-charge for Madhya Pradesh had provided her with the list of remaining 208 candidates. The list is likely to be made public in the next few days.

While Mayawati may have chosen to turn the political tables by accusing leaders like Digvijaya Singh being responsible for failure of alliance talks. Reliable sources with the BSP say clarity of “not having an alliance” was well understood by Behenji by mid of September itself.

This clarity has emerged out of what the BSP’s top leadership call “high handedness and arrogance” of the Congress party. Though senior Congress leaders like Kamal Nath kept the hopes of alliance alive, the fact is that the Congress was never ready to accept strict demands of Mayawati as far as seat sharing was concerned.

The Congress found BSP’s demand for seats “too ambitious and unjustified”. While the BSP was demanding not less than 45 seats in MP alone, the Congress insisted on no more than 28 seats to the former.

A senior leader of the BSP put it this way. He said, “Even after the BSP declared an alliance with Janta Congress of Ajit Jogi in Chhattisgarh there was no convincing approach from the Congress regarding Madhya Pradesh.”

It clearly means that more than Digvijaya, it was the Congress party not wanting the alliances in the states where it sees a direct one-on-one fight with the BJP.

However, the failure on the part of Opposition to unite comes as a shot in the arm for the BJP.

It is also a telling comment on the much-hyped mahagathbandhan plans. The non-BJP forces will be going to polls in at least three to four different fronts in these elections.

In Madhya Pradesh, the Samajwadi Party is going with the Gondwana Gantantra Party. The Left parties are in the arena with a front of their own.

In Rajasthan, there are three non-BJP fronts, while the Congress and the BSP will be contesting against each other on all the Assembly seats, the Samajwadi Party has got into understanding with Left Front, and other smaller parties. The AAP is also expected to join this front.

In Chhattisgarh, the BJP already feels comfortable with Ajit Jogi’s party getting support from the BSP. The Left parties and the SP are also going alone in these states.

Despite the odds, Badal Saroj, Former CPM state secretary of Madhya Pradesh, said, “We are still hopeful of defeating the BJP. Opposition unity may not have taken place in ideal form. The rising anger of farmers and common people is strong enough to throw the BJP out of power.”

Samajwadi Party’s spokesperson Sunil Singh Sajan is more vocal in his opinion. He said, “For alliance to happen, bigger parties like the Congress should also have a larger heart.”

Sunil further admitted that “it is a disappointment that larger opposition unity could not take place, primarily because of high handedness of the major non-BJP party”.

Technically, for the Congress, the support of BSP, SP or Left may not be necessary in electoral dynamics of these three states but failure to get into some sort of understanding with these non-BJP parties creates a negative perception about much discussed mahagathbandhan and raises serious questions about capabilities of the top leaders, including Congress president Rahul Gandhi, of being able to craft it before 2019 polls.

70 Anti-Quota Outfits Form Party in Poll-bound Madhya Pradesh, to Contest All 230 Seats

The newly formed party has claimed support of 70 social organizations, including Karni Sena, Akhil Bharatiya Brahmin Mahasabha and others.

Led by Samanya Pichhara Alpsankhyak Kalyan Samaj, anti-quota outfits here on Tuesday formally launched a political outfit – Sapaks Samaj Party — months ahead of the state elections in Madhya Pradesh.

Sapaks patron Hiralal Trivedi has been declared party president while the state executive announced on Tuesday comprised four vice-presidents and other office bearers, including youth wing functionaries. The party also launched its flag on Tuesday.
The party has claimed support of 70 social organizations, including Karni Sena, Akhil Bharatiya Brahmin Mahasabha and others.
“We would soon set up our organisational structure at the district level and shortlist candidates for assembly polls,” party president Hiralal Trivedi said.

On being asked whether there would be any criteria for distribution of tickets, Trivedi said they would accept names suggested by their voters.

The party wishes to field candidates at all the 230 assembly constituencies for the upcoming assembly elections.

The organization is yet to come up with a party symbol and is awaiting an approval from the Election Commission.

Trivedi added that opposition to SC/ST Act and reservation in promotion would be among the key agendas of the new party.

Besides claiming the support of the upper caste, the party is said to have a backing of sections of OBCs, SCs and STs, which has caused some worry for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and opposition Congress.

After successfully organizing the September 6 Bharat Bandh and another mega protest in Bhopal on September 30, the party looks confident of garnering support among minority communities.

Sapaks was formed with the agenda to fight the BJP-led Madhya Pradesh government’s move of extending reservation in promotions. The newly formed party would also be driven by similar ideals and retired bureaucrats and ex-police officers.