The Congress party will retain power in Chhattisgarh and form its first government in Telangana, said most of the exit polls on Thursday as voting for the assembly elections in five states came to a close.
In Rajasthan, most of the pollsters predict that the Bharatiya Janata Party will come back to power, ousting the Ashok Gehlot government. In Madhya Pradesh, though most of polls predicts BJP to retain its government, they forecast a neck and neck contest between the saffron party and the opposition Congress.
In Mizoram, exit polls results indicate a hung assembly. The state had witnessed a multi-cornered contest and most of the pollsters have given the new party, Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM), a considerable chunk of seats.
In Congress-ruled Chhattisgarh, all nine exit polls indicate that the Congress is in a position to retain power, even as the BJP is close behind. The BJP is seen making major gains in the Hindi heartland state of Chhattisgarh, as per the exit polls. The party was down to 15 seats in the 90-member Assembly in 2018 while the Congress won 68. Subsequently, the Congress won three more seats, taking its number to 71 in the state Assembly. The majority mark in the Chhattisgarh Assembly is 46.
Poll of polls indicates a close fight in BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh where five out of the nine pollsters have placed the Congress slightly ahead of the saffron party, but three (Today’s Chanakya, India Today-Axis My India and India TV-CNX) have said the BJP would sweep the elections. In MP’s 230-member House, 116 seats are needed for the majority.
Today’s Chanakya has predicted a comfortable win for the BJP in Madhya Pradesh with 139-163 seats against Congress’ 62-86. India Today-Axis My India has also given a comfortable majority to the BJP in Madhya Pradesh at 140-162 against Congress’ 68-90. These exit polls say over 50 per cent women voted for the BJP, mainly powered by the party’s flagship ‘Laadli Behna Yojana’ involving direct cash transfer of Rs 1,250 per month to the accounts of poor women.
Rajasthan, with the 200-member Assembly and 101-majority mark, looks set to stick to the tradition of revolving door politics, according to the average of exit polls which mostly predicted a BJP win and an upset for Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.
However, the Congress does not appear completely down and out in the desert state. Two pollsters out of nine — Today’s Chanakya with a forecast of 89-113 seats for the Congress against BJP’s 77-101 and India Today-Axis My India with a prediction of 86-106 seats for the Congress and 80-100 for BJP — stand out as exceptions as they see the Congress retaining power in the state.
In Telangana, the exit polls show the Congress bagging at least 60 seats and the ruling BRS 44 in the 119-member House. All exit polls predict major gains for the Congress and significant losses for the BRS in the southern state.
Touted to be the semifinal of the Lok Sabha elections scheduled in April-May 2024, assembly polls in these five states witnessed a high decibel campaign with national leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi addressing multiple rallies and roadshows.
While Mizoram went to polls on November 7, elections in Chhattisgarh were held in two phases—on November 7 and November 17. Voting in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Telangana was held on November 17, November 25 and November 30, respectively. The votes will be counted on December 3.
