Counting of votes for assembly election results is underway in five states – Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram.
In the multi-phase polling, Chhattisgarh voted on November 12 (18 seats) and November 20 (72 seats); Madhya Pradesh (230 seats) and Mizoram (40 seats) on November 28; and Rajasthan (199 seats) and Telangana (119 seats) on December 7. Here are the key highlights:
Hyderabad: AIMIM leader Akbaruddin Owaisi wins from Chandrayan Gutta constituency of Telangana.
Trends at 10 am: It is turning out to be a close fight between BJP and Congress in Madhya Pradesh. In Rajasthan, Congress is still ahead of the BJP. TRS and MNF are heading for a victory in Telangana and Mizoram, respectively. In Chhattisgarh, Congress is ahead of the BJP and CM Dr Raman Singh is trailing from Rajnandgaon.
In Rajasthan, CM Vasundhara Raje is leading by 4055 votes from Jhalrapatan, Congress’ Ashok Gehlot leading by 5112 votes from Sardarpura.
Chhattisgarh: Former chief minister Ajit Jogi is trailing in Marwahi by about 2,100 votes.
Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan is leading in Budhni. The senior BJP leader is fighting against Congress candidate Arun Yadav, a former minister.
Trends at 9:30 am: In Telangana, TRS is dominating with a vote share of 50.3%, followed by Congress with a vote share of 8.9%. In Madhya Pradesh, it is turning out to be a close contest between BJP and the Congress; Congress+ is ahead in 52 seats and BJP is leading in 49. In Rajasthan, Congress is taking a strong lead. In Chhattisgarh, Congress is ahead of the BJP that has been in power for 15 years now and CM Dr Raman Singh is trailing from Rajnandgaon. In Mizoram, MNF is ahead in 16 seats while Congress is leading in 13. BJP+ is ahead in 2 constituencies in the state.
As per early trends, Chhattisgarh chief minister Dr Raman Singh is trailing from Rajnandgaon, Congress’s Karuna Shukla is leading in the constituency.
Trends at 9 am: Neck and neck in Telangana, so far; TRS is leading in 50 seats and Congress-led alliance in 33 seats. In Rajasthan, Congress is taking a strong lead, as per the early trends. Congress is ahead in 43 seats, while BJP is leading in 28 constituencies. In Madhya Pradesh, BJP and the Congress are neck and neck while Shivraj Singh Chouhan is leading in his constituency. In Chhattisgarh, Congress is ahead in 17 seats. In Mizoram, MNF ahead in 16 seats, Congress in 11 seats.
For the Rajasthan assembly elections results, the counting will take place at 35 centres. Voting for 199 of the total 200 assembly seats in the state took place on December 7. In 2013 assembly election, BJP had won 163 seats, Congress 21, BSP 3, NPP 4 and independents and others 9 seats.
For the Madhya Pradesh results, 15,000 officers and workers will be put on duty for the task. In order to ensure transparency, the EVM machines which did not give clear results due to malfunctioning during mock polls will be taken out in the last round and the results will be tallied with the VVPAT slips. As many as 2,899 candidates were in the fray including 250 women and five third gender candidates.
In Chhattisgarh, tight security arrangements have been made at the counting centres in all 27 districts, particularly the Naxal-affected ones, to elect a new 90-member Assembly. As many as 5,184 counting personnel and 1,500 micro-observers have been appointed for smooth conduct of the process. In the 2013 elections, the BJP won 49 seats, the Congress 39, while one seat each was bagged by the BSP and an Independent.
For the Telangana results, security has been tightened to ensure smooth conduct of the counting process in all the districts. Telangana assembly has 119 seats with 60 being the majority mark. In 2014 assembly election, TRS won 63 seats while the Congress stood second with 21 seats; AIMIM secured seven while the BJP won five and its then alliance partner TDP won 15 seats.
In Mizoram, the counting will start at 8 am in all the districts. In the last elections, the Congress formed the government in the state by winning 29 seats. The Congress and the MNF have ruled Mizoram since 1987. The BJP also has set its eyes on the state this time as all other northeastern states are now ruled either by the saffron party or others supported by it.
The Election Commission has set up a secure facility for disseminating trends and results through its new website http://eciresults.nic.in.
