Assembly election results 2023: BJP catching up in Chhattisgarh, ahead in MP, Rajasthan; BRS trails in Telangana

As the counting of votes got underway for the Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Telangana assembly elections 2023, early trends by TV channels showed that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was leading in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.Meanwhile, in Chhattisgarh and Telangana, the Congress is ahead of the BJP and BRS, respectively.

The BJP, however, later narrowed the gap in Chhattisgarh.

The counting of votes began at 8am amid tight security arrangements on Sunday, in the final stretch of the battle billed as the semifinal before the mega final in 2024.

The Congress was leading in 58 out of the 119 seats as per initial trends available from the counting of votes polled in November 30 assembly elections. The ruling BRS was trailing behind its main challenger, the trends indicated.

The outcome of the assembly elections in the four crucial States of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Telangana will reflect into the possible political variations that will be seen in the Lok Sabha elections in 2024.

The Congress, which is in power in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, and the BJP, which is ruling Madhya Pradesh, are locked in a straight fight in these three states, while K Chandrashekhar Rao-led Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) is hoping for a hat-trick in Telangana.

Pollsters have been divided on the outcome, with quite a few exit polls putting the BJP ahead in Madhya Pradesh and giving it an edge in Rajasthan while predicting that Congress has an advantage in Telangana and Chhattisgarh.

The counting commenced amid tight security for 230 seats in Madhya Pradesh, 90 seats in Chhattisgarh, 119 seats in Telangana and 199 seats in Rajasthan as polling on one seat in the desert state was put off due to the death of a candidate. In Mizoram, counting will be held on Monday

Madhya Pradesh assembly election results 2023

The counting for 230 assembly seats in MP is being held at 52 district headquarters, officials said.

As many as 2,533 candidates are in the fray, including political bigwigs like Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and his predecessor and rival Kamal Nath, in a poll that was largely a bipolar battle between the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress.

Rajasthan assembly election results 2023

Counting of votes polled in the November 25 assembly elections in Rajasthan is being done at 36 centres in the state on Sunday, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Praveen Gupta said.

Over 1,800 candidates are in the fray in 199 seats in Rajasthan where power has alternated between Congress and BJP every five years in the last three decades.

While 30 election districts have one counting centre, Jaipur, Jodhpur and Nagaur have two centres each, Gupta said. Election in Karanpur was postponed following the death of Congress candidate Gurmeet Singh Koonar.

Chhattisgarh assembly election results 2023

Tight security arrangements have been made in all counting centres in the state’s 33 districts, including the ones affected by Left Wing Extremism (LWE), officials said.

“A total of 90 returning officers, 416 assistant returning officers, 4596 counting personnel and 1698 micro-observers have been appointed for carrying out the counting process smoothly,” Chhattisgarh Chief Electoral Officer Reena Baba Saheb Kangale said at a press conference.

As many as 1,181 candidates are in the fray, including Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, Deputy Chief Minister TS Singh Deo (both from Congress) and former CM Raman Singh of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Telangana assembly election results 2023

As many as 2,290 contestants are in the fray in the elections, including BRS supremo Chandrasekhar Rao, his minister-son KT Rama Rao, TPCC president A Revanth Reddy and BJP Lok Sabha members Bandi Sanjay Kumar, D Arvind and Soyam Bapu Rao.

The BRS has fielded candidates in all 119 seats while the Congress gave one seat to its ally CPI. The BJP and Janasena contested 111 and 8 seats respectively in a pre-poll pact/ The Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM has put up candidates in nine segments in the city.

Several segments witnessed triangular contests making them keenly watched ones.

Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao is contesting from two segments-Gajwel and Kamareddy.