Madhya Pradesh: Congress candidate offers earnest prayers at Ujjain's Mahakaleshwar Temple with hours left to counting

With barely a few hours left before the counting of votes begins for four states, Congress candidate from Nagda Khachrod constituency, Dilip Gurjar, was at the divine door on Sunday morning, offering earnest prayers to the Almighty at the Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga Temple in the Ujjain district. A visual from his temple run showed the Congress candidate praying with his eyes closed and hands folded as he sat facing Mahakal (Lord Shiva). Likewise, leaders from across four states also headed to the nearest shrines as their fates lay locked in strong rooms. In Madhya Pradesh, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan visited several religious sites in the run-up to the results. On the eve of counting day, Chouhan, on Saturday, took out time to water some plants in Bhopal. BJP leader Vasundhara Raje on Saturday visited the Moti Doongri temple in Jaipur and the Mehandipur Balaji temple in Dausa, as has been her tradition ahead of important days. All eyes are on the outcome of the fiercely contested electoral battles in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Telangana, which have been dubbed the semi-finals ahead of the Lok Sabha elections next year. The counting of votes in the four states will start today at 8 am and the Election Commission has ensured that all arrangements are in place for the D-day. Mizoram, which also went to polls along with the other four states last month, will have to wait till December 4 for the results as the Election Commission has extended counting in the state by a day. The polling in five states, straddling the north, east and southern parts of the country, is tipped to set the course of the political headwinds going into the Lok Sabha elections next year. Confirming the rescheduling of counting in the tiny Northeast state earlier, the poll panel the decision was taken following representations from civil society in the state, as Sunday holds a special significance for the people in the Christian-majority state. The votes will be counted for 230 seats in Madhya Pradesh, 90 seats in Chhattisgarh, 119 in Telangana and 199 seats in Rajasthan. The polls, held months before the Lok Sabha polls, are crucial for BJP and Congress for various reasons.