Assembly poll verdict in four states today
Source: The Sangai Express / Press Trust of India
New Delhi, December 07 2013 :
The fate of governments in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Ra-jasthan and Chhattisgarh will be known tomorrow when counting of votes takes place in the assembly elections, con-sidered the semifinals ahead of the Lok Sabha elections next year.
In Mizoram, counting will take place on December 9 .
Voting ranged between over 65 per cent in Delhi and over 81 per cent in Mizoram.
Rajasthan recorded over 74 per cent, while Madhya Pra-desh and Chhattisgarh over 70 per cent.
With Narendra Modi spearheading the BJP campaign after his nomination as the party's prime ministerial candidate; all eyes will be on how the party performs in the current round of elections.
On the other hand, the Congress's performance could point to the potential of Rahul Gandhi as the party's mascot ahead of the big fight early next year.
The contest was essentially bipolar between BJP and Congress in Madhya Pra-desh, Rajasthan and Chhattis- garh, while in Delhi it was a virtual triangular contest with new entrant AAP making it difficult for the two parties.
Exit polls after the elections in these states have pre- dicted a near rout for Congress and a good showing for BJP, which is likely to retain power in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh and wrest power in Rajasthan.
Sheila Dikshit, seeking a record fourth term as Delhi chief minister, appears to be facing the toughest battle in the national capital with the emergence of Arvind Kejri-wal's Aam Aadmi Party up- setting the calculations of both the Congress and the BJP.
Harsh vardhan is BJP's chief ministerial candidate.
There are 810 candidates in fray in Delhi for 70 seats.
While Congress and AAP are contesting all the seats, BJP is in the fray in 66 seats.
It has given four seats to ally SAD.
Shivraj Singh Chouhan is involved in a tough battle with Congress in his bid for a hat trick, pitted as he is against a young Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia for the chief minister's post in Madhya Pradesh.
For the 230 seats at stake, BJP has fielded its candidates in all the seats while Congress is fighting in one less.
A total of 2,583 candidates are in fray.
Rajasthan witnesses a keen fight between Congress led by chief minister Ashok Ge-hlot and BJP's Vasundhara Raje with both the parties fac-ing each other in all the 200 constituencies.
As many as 2,087 candidates are in the fray in the desert state.
Like his Madhya Pradesh counterpart, Raman Singh is seeking a hat-trick in Chhat-tisgarh where again both BJP and Congress are fighting it out against each other in all the 90 constituencies.
There are 986 candidates in all.
In Mizoram, where coalition politics is in play, Con- gress is fighting to retain po-wer.
Congress is contesting all the 40 seats, while the MNF which heads the opposition front is contesting 31 along with Mizo People's Conference 8.Zoram Nationalist Party is contesting 38 seats.
A total of 142 candidates are in the fray for the 40-member assembly.
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