Assembly poll verdict in four states on Sunday

New Delhi: The fate of governments in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh will be known on when counting of votes takes place in the assembly elections, considered the semi-finals ahead of the Lok Sabha elections next year. In Mizoram, where too election was held, counting will take place on 9 December. Voting ranged between over 65 percent in Delhi and over 81 percent in Mizoram. Rajasthan recorded over 74 percent, while Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh over 70 percent. [caption id=“attachment_1272865” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Poll time. Reuters[/caption] 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 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 Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, 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 predicted 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 Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party upsetting the calculations of both the Congress and the BJP. Harshvardhan 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 Chauhan 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 Gehlot and BJP’s Vasundhara Raje with both the parties facing each other in all the 200 constituencies. As many as 2,087 candidates are in thew fray in the desert state. Like his Madhya Pradesh counterpart, Raman Singh is seeking a hat trick in Chhattisgarh 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, Congress is fighting to retain power. 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. PTI