Assembly election results 2023: BJP, Cong, BRS face off today

Counting of votes will be held on Sunday in assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh Rajasthan Chhattisgarh and Telangana in what is seen as a semifinal contest ahead of the general elections in less than six monthsThe 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 Chandrashekar Raoled Bharat Rashtra Samithi BRS is hoping for a hattrick in TelanganaPollsters 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 ChhattisgarhStarting with postal ballots counting will commence at 8 am 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 candidateAfter wresting Karnataka from the BJP in May the Congress is eyeing Madhya Pradesh and Telangana and is hoping to retain power in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh An impressive performance in these polls will boost the partys standing in the opposition INDIA alliance which has been formed to take on the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha electionsThe BJP is seeking to replicate the winning streak of Gujarat where it has been ruling since 1998 in Madhya Pradesh with fourtime Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan hoping to form government again The party is also keen to win back Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh as it seeks to regain its hold in the Hindi heartland states ahead of the Lok Sabha pollsAlso read Rahul Gandhi mocks political opponents love for limelightldquoThe face of the Congress has been exposed Only the results are to come The good governance that the public wanted will be found under the BJP governmentrdquo Union minister Anurag Thakur said 9With several pollsters predicting a close fightMadhya PradeshThe counting for 230 assembly seats in MP will be held at 52 district headquarters officials said As many as 2533 candidates are in contention including political bigwigs like CM 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 Congress Chouhan claimed his party would retain power with a ldquohuge majorityrdquo while state Congress chief Kamal Nath said he had ldquocomplete confidencerdquo in the voters of the stateRajasthanOver 1800 candidates are in contention in 199 seats in Rajasthan where power has alternated between Congress and BJP every five years in the last three decades ldquoThe counting of ballot papers will start at 8 pm As many as 979 tables have been arranged for the counting of ballot papers across the state Strong rooms will be opened in the presence of observers candidates and their representativesrdquo Chief Electoral Officer Praveen Gupta said Gupta said that the counting of votes in EVM machines will begin at 830 amChhattisgarhTight security arrangements have been made in all counting centres in the statersquos 33 districts including the ones affected by Left Wing Extremism LWE officials said ldquoThe counting of postal ballots will begin at 8 am Half an hour after the postal ballots are counted the process of counting votes from the EVMs will begin A total of 90 returning officers 416 assistant returning officers 4596 counting personnel and 1698 microobservers have been appointed for a smooth processrdquo Chhattisgarh Chief Electoral Officer Reena Baba Saheb Kangale saidTelanganaAs many as 2290 contestants are in the fray in the elections including BRS supremo Chandrasekhar Rao hisson 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 seats respectively in a prepoll pact The Asaduddin Owaisiled AIMIM has put up candidates in nine segments CM K Chandrasekar Rao is contesting from Gajwel and KamareddyThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever