In a historic win, the Bharatiya Janata
Party swept three heartland States of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and
Rajasthan whereas the Congress achieved a big win in Telangana against ruling Bharat
Rashtra Samithi and outgoing Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao.
Mizoram, which also went to polls along
with other four States on November 17, will have its results tomorrow. The
Election Commission pushed counting in Mizoram by a day, respecting the
Christian-majority State’s observance of Sunday.
Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj
Singh Chouhan emerged as the showstopper as the BJP comfortably beat
anti-incumbency to post a giant win.
The party is presently leading in 166
seats in the 230-member Assembly, well past the majority mark of 116. The
Congress is at a distant second, leading in 62 seats.
Shivraj Chouhan, who is leading in his
stronghold of Budhni by a staggering 51,000 votes, congratulated BJP workers in
advance as the party put up a strong show in early leads. The four-time Chief
Minister credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the party’s performance.
“Our Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji is
in the hearts of the people of Madhya Pradesh. The State is also in the heart
of Modi ji. There is immense faith towards him. He held public meetings here
and appealed to people which touched people’s hearts,” Chouhan, 64, said.
Chhattisgarh
The BJP looks to register a strong
victory in Chhattisgarh, dethroning Congress. The party is leading in 53 seats,
only a few away from the majority mark of 90. The Congress, meanwhile, is ahead
in 35 seats. Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, who initially trailed, is now
leading in Patan constituency against his nephew and BJP candidate Vijay
Baghel.
Rajasthan
Anti-incumbency helped the BJP in
Rajasthan, albeit at the Congress’s expense as the party is on course to wrest
the State from its rival in line with the ‘revolving power door’ trend. Chief
Minister Ashok Gehlot and party colleague Sachin Pilot’s rivalry seems to have
added to the Congress’s problems.
The BJP is currently leading in 115
seats while the Congress is ahead in 69 constituencies.
Ashok Gehlot conceded defeat to the BJP
in Rajasthan, calling the poll results “unexpected for everyone”. Meanwhile,
Sachin Pilot won the Tonk seat by a margin of 29,475 votes.
Telangana
The southern state became the Congress’s
consolation prize as the party was on its way to register a clear win against
the BRS. Congress is currently leading in 64 seats while the BRS is ahead in 40
constituencies.
Chief Minister KCR is leading in Gajwel
seat by 11,714 votes, but trailing in Kamareddy by 3,335 votes. Congress leader
Revanth Reddy is ahead in Kamareddy.
