Counting of votes began Tuesday morning for the Chhattisgarh Assembly polls, being viewed as a prestige battle for three-term Chief Minister Raman Singh of the BJP and the opposition Congress' fight for resurgence.

This time, the coalition between Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), former chief minister Ajit Jogi's Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J) and Communist Party of India (CPI) has added another dimension to the electoral politics of the state which has been dominated by the BJP and the Congress. Several exit polls have predicted a neck-and-neck fight between the big two and some have projected victory for the Rahul Gandhi-led party.