'BJP will come to power in Rajasthan, Delhi': Nirmala Sitharaman

Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday expressed confidence that her party would succeed in removing the Congress from Rajasthan and Delhi, and asserted that they are fully prepared to face the elections with a great sense of satisfaction.

"BJP, which is ready to face the elections in these five states, we are in full preparedness, we are going to face the elections with great sense of satisfaction, and in the states where we are ruling our governments have performed really well and it is on the developmental agenda that we are going to seek votes from the people," she said.

"With regards to Rajasthan and Delhi where there is Congress rule, the less spoken about the governance the better, because the governance in both the states have only shown how they have not served the people, and therefore, being in the opposition there we are confident that we are coming to power," she added.

Delhi BJP MLA Dr. Harshvardhan welcomed the announced of poll dates by the Election Commission, and appealed to the people of the state to play an active part in the upcoming elections.

"We were waiting since many days for the dates of elections. Public meetings are held, party manifesto is created, and people are informed and encouraged about the vision of the party. I appeal to the people of Delhi to come out and cast their votes," he said.

Earlier in the day, Chief Election Commissioner V.S. Sampath announced the polling dates for five states, including Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Mizoram.

Addressing a news conference this afternoon, Sampath said elections for Chhattisgarh would be held first and in two phases-on November 11 and 19.

Elections in Madhya Pradesh would be held on November 25. Elections in Rajasthan would be held on December 1, while elections in Delhi and Mizoram would be held on December 4, he added.

He also said that all measures are in place to conduct free and fair polls, including elaborate security arrangements.

He announced that for the first time, the Election Commission would be deploying Central Awareness Observers to motivate voters to exercise their franchise in a bid to increase the voter turnout.

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Taking note of the Supreme Court's recent ruling, giving voters the right to reject candidates in the electoral fray, Sampath said the Election Commission is taking adequate measures to educate both voters and officials deployed for election duty for the same.

He said the counting of votes for all five states would take place on December 8.