- In Haryana, the Congress will hope to make a comeback. The state assembly has 90 seats. Maharashtra has been governed since 1999 by a coalition of the Congress and Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party.
- The Maharashtra legislature has 288 seats.
- In the national election, the BJP won 23 of the state’s 48 seats; its long-time partner, the Shiv Sena, got 18; the Congress was reduced to just two.
- The Congress and Mr Pawar’s party have not yet finalized how they will divide those seats between their candidates. Ditto for the BJP-Sena alliance.
- With seat-sharing talks still not out of the way, the BJP-Sena alliance may campaign without a chief ministerial candidate. Sources say the parties believe a perceived “Modi wave” may benefit them even in the state polls.
- In Haryana, the main opposition party currently is Om Prakash Chautala’s Indian National Lok Dal or INLD.
- Another regional player is the Haryana Janhit Congress, which was formed by former chief minister Bhajan Lal and is now led by his son, Kuldeep Bishnoi.
- Just weeks ago, the BJP ended its three-year alliance with Mr Bishnoi, whose party did not win a single seat in May’s national election.
- The BJP won seven of the state’s 10 parliamentary seats; Mr Chautala’s INLD got two. The state’s ruling Congress managed just one seat.
- Polls are also due in flood-ravaged Jammu and Kashmir and Jharkhand. Chief Election Commissioner VS Sampath said, “On J&K we are watching the situation very closely. After things come to some shape we will find out.”
