Assembly Election Results 2023 Analysis: ZPM set to form govt in Mizoram; with 3 key wins, BJP expands its political footprint

The Zoram People’s Movement — that emerged as a serious contender in these Assembly elections — has won a clear majority with 21 out of 40 assembly seats. The MNF has won 7 seats, followed by BJP which has clinched 2 seats so far.

The ZPM’s Baryl Vanneihsangi was declared winner from the Aizawl South - III seat, making her only the fifth woman to ever be elected to Mizoram’s legislative assembly. She was among the 16 women candidates in the fray this time. -- Sukrita Baruah writes

With its landslide win in Madhya Pradesh, and having overturned Congress governments in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance is now in power in 17 states and Union Territories. The Congress-led INDIA bloc is in power in 10 states and UTs, while the unaligned YSR Congress Party and Biju Janata Dal hold Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, respectively.

In the four polling states where results have been announced, click here to read how constituencies changed hands between the 2018 and 2023 Assembly elections.

A day after the BJP won three of the four Assembly elections, BSP chief Mayawati said the "one-sided results" in the four states have made people "apprehensive, astonished and worried" as she convened a meeting of her party members to discuss the 2024 Lok Sabha polls strategy. The meeting will be held in Lucknow on December 10.

In a series of posts on X Mayawati also said that during the election campaign in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Telangana there was a feeling that these states would see a close fight. But the results were completely different, she said. BJP swept the assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, rendering a major loss to the Congress which managed to wrest power in Telangana in the results announced on Sunday.

"It is natural for all the people to be doubtful, surprised and worried when the results of the assembly elections in the four states were one-sided. Considering the entire atmosphere of the elections, such a strange result is a matter of concern for the people and very difficult to accept," Mayawati said on X.

"The atmosphere during the entire election was that of a neck-and-neck fight. But the election result being completely different and one-sided is such a mysterious matter that it requires serious thinking and needs to be solved. A terrible 'mistake' in sensing people's mood is a new topic of discussion."

Asking her party members not to be disheartened by the results, she said, "All people of BSP fought this election with full strength... They should not be disappointed by such a result and keep trying to move forward by taking inspiration from the life and struggles of Babasaheb Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar."

To discuss the ground report of this election and to make preparations for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, an all-India meeting of the party will be convened in Lucknow on December 10, Mayawati said. "The Ambedkarite movement will never lose the courage to move forward," the BSP president added. (PTI)

The ECI has now declared results for 13 out 40 Mizoram seats, of which 11 have been won by the ZPM, and one each by the BJP. Some notable upsets have been the defeat of Mizoram’s lone Rajya Sabha MP K. Vanlalvena, Deputy Chief Minister Tawnluia and cabinet ministers Lalruatkima and R. Lalthangliana.

The ZPM’s Chief Ministerial candidate has registered a decisive win from the Serchhip constituency, defeating the MNF candidate by 2982. With this, he is most likely set to become the next Mizoram Chief Minister. -- Sukrita Baruah writes

While the ECI has not yet declared the result of the seat, incumbent Chief Minister Zoramthanga is set to lose his Aizawl East-I seat to ZPM’s Lalthansanga. After all rounds of counting, he is trailing by 2101 votes.

This significant defeat is largely in line with Mizoram’s trend of voting out the Chief Ministerial candidate of the party which is dislodged from power. -- Sukrita Baruah writes

The ZPM’s Lalnghinglova Hmar has brought in the party’s second win for the day from the Aizawl West-II constituency. Both the seats in which ZPM’s wins have been declared so far has been against sitting ministers:

Hmar has defeated state cabinet minister Lalruatkima while W. Chhuanawma defeated incumbent Deputy Chief Minister Tawnluia from Tuichang. -- Sukrita Baruah writes

With trends in from all 40 seats now, the ZPM has established a sizeable lead, having won one seat and leading in 26 others. The ruling MNF is leading in just 9 seats now.

Significantly, the ZPM is currently leading in all ten Aizawl seats, ahead of several powerful sitting ministers including Zoramthanga, Lalruatkima and sitting Rajya Sabha MP K. Vanlalvena. -- Sukrita Baruah 

The first win for the day is in with the Zoram People’s Movement’s W. Chhuanawma clinching the Tuichang seat. He has defeated the sitting MLA MNF’s Tawnluia.

With early trends in from 36 out of 40 seats, the ZPM has established a solid lead, leading in 23 seats. The MNF is trailing behind it with leads in 10 seats. The BJP is currently in the lead in two seats - both with sizeable ethnic minority populations - Saiha and Palak in South Mizoram. -- Sukrita Baruah writes

After two rounds of counting, the BJP's K. Beichhua, a ethnic minority Mara leader who had jumped ship from the MNF shortly before the elections, is in the lead from the Saiha constituency, which has a sizeable ethnic minority population. Yhe BJP had been focusing its energies on ethnic minority seats during campaigning given that it is extremely difficult for it to make inroads among the deeply Christian Mizo community. -- Sukrita Baruah writes

1. Having wrested Rajasthan and, surprisingly, even Chhattisgarh – which looked “safe” for the Congress – and having retained power in Madhya Pradesh with a convincing margin, the 2023 elections to five states underlines the formidable force the BJP has become.

2. Admittedly, no election is won on a single issue but since it was the Prime Minister who led the campaign from the front, clearly, his popularity in these states remains undimmed.

3. The Congress’s progress, under the leadership of Mallikarjun Kharge, is too slow and incremental. Read more

After the setback in Karnataka, there could not be a more handsome outcome for the BJP than the assembly results declared on Sunday. It has retained one state and gained two more. The two Congress governments that lost to the BJP were not exactly unpopular, the party made every effort to match the welfare populism of the BJP, both the defeated Congress governments spent considerable energy and resources on public outreach and yet, they were outsmarted by the BJP.

Election analysis will have to take a moment of deep breath to answer the how and why of the outcome. Meanwhile, we will come across reports of clever micro-management by the BJP and its deep organisational strength buttressed by RSS cadres. Much will be said about the party’s welfare schemes and the governance skills of its leaders. However, the BJP’s victories in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh should draw attention to the deeper tendencies which have laid the foundation of positive electoral outcomes for the party not just today but rather consistently over the past decade – the hiccups have been very few. Read Suhas Palshikar's Opinion

With the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) heading towards a landslide victory in three states — Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh — Prime Minister Narendra Modi Sunday calling the day “unprecedented,” said that the ideologies of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikaas, Sabka Vishwas,’ self-reliant India, honesty, and transparency have emerged victorious.

Speaking at the party headquarters in New Delhi, where he arrived this evening along with BJP national president J P Nadda, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Modi expressed his gratitude towards the people of the states and party workers for their tireless contribution and hardwork. “I ask all the BJP volunteers to ensure the creation of a generation whose dream is a Viksit Bharat (advanced India). These Assembly election results have ushered in an atmosphere of positivity… we have to keep this energy, this momentum up. The responsibility of each BJP karyakarta has increased today,” Modi said.

“These elections saw many attempts to divide the people of the country into different castes. But I kept saying that I believe in only four of them — nari shakti (women empowerment), yuva shakti (youth empowerment), our kisans (farmers) and the poor. It is only by empowering these four that the country can develop,” the prime minister said. Read More

Few gave the BJP a chance in Chhattisgarh where the Congress’s incumbent Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel was predicted to return to power for a second term. Now that the party has pulled off a victory in a huge turnaround from 2018, when it had slumped to 15 seats, it will get down to picking the CM face. The choice won’t be easy for the party, which brought Raman Singh back to the state only towards the end after it could not find a face to match his name recall.

Many in the state BJP say that Raman Singh, the state’s longest-serving CM, enjoys the confidence of both Narendra Modi and Amit Shah and may get another shot at the top job.

54-year-old state BJP president and Bilaspur MP Arun Sao is one of the BJP’s tallest Other Backward Class (OBC) leaders. Sao is from the Sahu samaj that is the biggest OBC community in Chhattisgarh and has influence in at least 51 non-reserved constituencies. Last year, he was tasked with heading the state unit last year in a move to counterbalance CM Baghel, replacing tribal leader Vishnudeo Sai. Read More

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday said his party humbly accepts the mandate of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, and asserted that the battle of ideology would continue.

The BJP tightened its grip in the Hindi heartland with assembly victories in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh while the Congress was set to oust the BRS from Telangana on Sunday.

In a post in Hindi on X, Gandhi said, "We humbly accept the mandate of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan -- the battle of ideology will continue." "I am very thankful to the people of Telangana - we will definitely fulfil the promise of making 'Prajalu Telangana'. Heartfelt thanks to all the workers for their hard work and support," the former Congress chief said.

With the Congress facing a setback in the Assembly elections in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, and Madhya Pradesh, the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP on Sunday claimed the spot of the “largest Opposition party”.

Ahead of the expected Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) meeting on Wednesday, senior AAP leader Jasmine Shah tweeted, “After today’s results, Aam Aadmi Party emerged as the largest opposition party in north India with 2 state governments – Punjab and Delhi.”

According to senior AAP leaders, the Assembly election results will change the power dynamics within the alliance.

The AAP, which was pushing for an alliance with the Congress in the city and in Haryana ahead of the 2019 elections but could not agree on the seat-sharing matrix, is expected to seek at least five out of seven seats in Delhi in the upcoming polls after Sunday’s results. Read More

The hopes of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) supremo Kalvakuntla Chandrashekar Rao, 69, popularly known as KCR, of becoming the first political leader among southern states to score a hattrick, lies shattered in Telangana. The loss puts a question mark over the future prospects of the BRS — a party born out of the Telangana movement.

Rousing Telangana sentiment after the creation of the state had lifted the BRS to power in 2014. Projection of a larger-than-life image of KCR was able to create enough positive sentiment in favour of the BRS supremo to fetch him a second term in 2018.

However, this time around, both the BRS and its founder KCR appear to have lost a lot of political ground in the state, in spite of launching highly popular welfare schemes like Rythu Bandhu. With the Congress back with a bang, and the BJP, which had been written-off, putting up an unexpectedly strong show, the BRS and KCR will have to look for ways to remain relevant. Read More

As of Sunday afternoon (December 3), trends for the state Legislative Assembly elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Telangana showed the BJP taking the lead in the first three states. With this, the party has asserted its presence in three large states in northern India, in what is also called the ‘Hindi heartland’.

BJP leaders told The Indian Express that the results have exceeded their expectations. Despite the exit polls predicting a tight contest in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, the BJP has managed to score an impressive margin ahead of the opposition Congress party. Further, it has gained a significant lead in Chhattisgarh, where it was seen as lagging behind the Congress during the campaign.

What are some of the factors that have helped move the results in the party’s favour? We explain

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday thanked the people of the states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh for their overwhelming mandate saying the results have shown that the people have faith only in the politics of good governance and development, and asserted that their faith was in the BJP.

"I heartily thank the family members of all these states, especially the mothers, sisters, daughters and our young voters, for showering their love, trust and blessings on the BJP," Modi said in a post on X.

He assured that the BJP will continue to work tirelessly for the welfare of the people. Prime Minister Modi also thanked the party workers for their efforts in taking the BJP's development and poor welfare policies to the people.

Terming the Congress's performance in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan assembly polls as disappointing, party chief Mallikarjun Kharge Sunday said the party will overcome temporary setbacks and prepare fully for the Lok Sabha polls along with INDIA partners. 

He thanked the people of Telangana, where the party is on course to dislodge the BRS from power and form the government. "The Congress party fought a spirited campaign in all these four states," he added in a post on X. 

The Congress is set to lose power in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. In Madhya Pradesh, the party's attempt to wrest power from the BJP appeared to have failed, according to counting trends. 

With the BJP heading towards victory in three out of the four states that went to polls recently, the party will now be in power in 12 states on its own, while the Congress, the second largest national party, will come down to three after losing Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. The Aam Aadmi Party, with its government in Delhi and Punjab, is third among national parties.

The BJP, which rules the centre, is in power in Uttarakhand, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Goa, Assam, Tripura, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, and is all set to get Madhya Pradesh back and snatch Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh from the Congress after today's vote count. Besides, BJP is also part of the ruling coalition in four states - Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Nagaland, and Sikkim.

The Congress will now be in power in three states on its own - Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, and Telangana, where it's on its way to victory, defeating its closest rival, the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS). The Congress is also part of the ruling coalition in Bihar and Jharkhand and is an ally of the DMK which rules Tamil Nadu, however, it is not a part of the state government.

The results also consolidated AAP's position as a major Opposition party, making it the second biggest Opposition party with government in two states, as Congress' share declined. (PTI)

Poised to form the government in three of the four states that went to the polls in November, the BJP has grand victory plans for Sunday evening. The focal point of the celebration: “Modi’s guarantee”.

According to party sources within the Delhi BJP, which is organising the event, the proceedings are scheduled to begin around 6 pm, the highlight being a 500-metre-long road show led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This will be followed by an address. A “significant” chunk of the gathering will comprise women.

“The event will be organised around the theme: ‘Desh Mein Ek hi Guarantee Chalti Hai – Modi ki Guarantee. Thousands of supporters will be women to symbolise, the party’s gratitude to female voters who have played a major role in the party’s victory in the three states,” a senior party leader said. Read this Polical Pulse piece by Jatin Anand

Unlike in 2018, the signs of the changing political landscape in Telangana in 2023 could be seen in the waning support for the ruling Bharatiya Rashtra Samithi (BRS). This decline in popularity was particularly noticeable in the increasing detachment of the people from several BRS MLAs, who seemed to have lost their credibility. The desire for “change” was a familiar theme throughout Telangana, manifesting in various expressions and forms. This self-generating anti-BRS momentum led to a shift in public opinion, with the Congress party emerging as a strong alternative.

This change signifies a move away from the deeply rooted regional and cultural identity that once defined Telangana’s politics, marking a shift in the state’s political narrative. In other words, the electoral triumph of Congress and the enhanced performance of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will change the landscape of regional party politics in India.

The 2023 Assembly election in the state was unique and challenging for many reasons. First, the state witnessed an intense campaign battle between the BRS and Congress, yet the voters were more resolute in their choices. Second, the BRS’s inconsistent and poorly executed welfare programmes over its nine-and-a-half-year tenure led to widespread dissatisfaction, enabling opposition parties to craft narratives that played on voter anxieties. -- Afroz Alam writes

"Not saddened over the result today, but surely disappointed," said Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader KT Rama Rao on party's poll performance today as the Congress inches closer to victory in Telangana. 

The state is staring at a change in power as the Congress party surges ahead with a lead in 63 of the total 119 seats. Meanwhile,  K Chandrasekhar Rao-led BRS, which has been in power since the formation of the state in 2014, is trailing with a lead in 40 seats. Congress chief Revanth Reddy has won from Kodangal with a majority of 32800 votes.

Several of the MPs who contested the assembly polls and won will have to quit one of the seats in the next 14 days, else they stand to lose their Parliament membership, an expert said citing provisions of the Constitution.

The BJP fielded 21 MPs, including Union ministers Narendra Singh Tomar, Prahlad Singh Patel and Faggan Singh Kulaste, in the assembly polls -- seven each in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, four in Chhattisgarh and three in Telangana.
The MPs who win assembly polls will have to quit one of their seats in the next 14 days.

"If they don't, on expiry of 14 days, they will lose their membership of Parliament. However, they can continue as member of the state legislative assembly," Constitution expert and former Lok Sabha secretary general P D T Achari said citing Prevention of Simultaneous Membership Rule issued by the president in 1950 under Article 101 of the constitution. (PTI)

In Rajasthan, the BJP's first-time MP from Alwar, Mahant Balaknath, is set to have a smooth sailing in his debut Assembly election from the Tijara seat, leading by over 11,400 votes against his Congress rival Imran Khan. 

Balaknath has generated a lot of buzz in the Rajasthan elections. Across constituencies, people talked about the BJP's Tijara candidate, drawing parallels with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath – a comparison that Balaknath pointedly distances himself from.

He has been widely dubbed as  “Rajasthan ka Yogi”, which 
is coloured as much by Hindutva as a demand for “strict” law and order – the BJP built its Rajasthan campaign around the claim of “rising crimes” in the state under the Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government.

One of the songs in Balaknath’s campaign was: “UP mein Yogi ne kiya kamaal; UP ki tarah Rajasthan ko bhi chamkayenge (Yogi has transformed UP, we will make Rajasthan shine like it)”. Balaknath said he has told his supporters to avoid such songs.

Like in other sates, the BJP did not project a state face in the Rajasthan polls too. Even former CM Vasundhara Raje was just one of the party's key faces of the party's campaign, with Balaknath being among such faces.

As the party is poised to return to power in the state, the big question remains, who will be its CM nominee?

The hopes of Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) supremo K Chandrashekar Rao of becoming the first political leader among the southern states to score a hattrick in Telangana have been shattered. 

The loss puts a question mark over the future prospects of BRS — a party born out of the Telangana movement. The Telangana sentiment powered it to power in 2014 after the creation of the separate state of Telangana, while pro-KCR sentiment got him a second term in 2018. 

Despite launching highly popular welfare schemes such as the Rythu Bandhu, KCR and his party have both lost a lot of political ground in the state. With the Congress back with a big victory, and the BJP, which had been written off, putting up a strong fight, BRS will now have to look for ways to remain relevant where the Telangana sentiment has waned. With BRS’s defeat, KCR’s ambitions of elevating the party to the national level will also take a back seat. -- Sreenivas Janyala writes

Set to win all three Hindi heartland states where it was in a direct contest with the Congress — Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh — the BJP’s aim for a higher target for the Lok Sabha elections has received a major boost, party insiders said on Sunday. The Congress’s performance below expectation has raised questions about the capability of the Opposition INDIA bloc to pose the party a formidable challenge in the region in the general elections.

As things stand as of 1.30 pm, the Congress is poised to win only in Telangana where the Opposition party was in a direct fight against the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), a regional party that has refused to join the INDIA alliance but has spoken about bringing together anti-BJP and anti-Congress forces on a common platform. After the loss in Karnataka in May, the performance in Telangana will have the BJP relooking at its southern strategy. 

The BJP’s talking heads have credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity and Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s meticulous planning for the party’s showing in the Hindi heartland states. Sources in the BJP said that the party’s strategy to focus on Modi’s guarantees to counter the Congress’s guarantee politics and the allegations of appeasement politics to negate the traction the Congress seemed to have gained among the minority groups could continue in the Lok Sabha campaign too. Read more of Liz Mathew's report

Madhya Pradesh is a state where agriculture has done well over the last two decades, especially under Shivraj Singh Chouhan who may well be chief minister again after the Bharatiya Janata Party’s emphatic Assembly elections win defying earlier predictions. 

During 2013-14 to 2022-23, MP’s farm sector registered an average annual growth of 6.1 per cent. That’s more than the national average of 3.9 per cent for these 10 years. 

The extent of transformation that has marked Chouhan’s largely unbroken tenure as chief minister since the end of November 2005 — drawing comparisons with what Partap Singh Kairon accomplished in post-Independence Punjab — can be gauged by a few statistics. Read Harish Damodaran's piece

In the Kaman Assembly constituency, independent candidate Mukhtyar Ahmad is presently leading, followed by the BJP and Congress. Ahmad rose to prominence after the anger among the local Meo Muslim community against the ruling Congress following the killings of Nasir and Junaid earlier this year by cow vigilantes.   

A large part of the Muslim community in Kaman went against Congress MLA and Rajasthan MoS Zahida Khan who they accuse of trying to subdue the protests that broke out after the killings of Nasir and Junaid. Meo Muslims are the single largest community in Kaman, from where Ahmad is leading. -- Deep Mukherjee writes

From 19 seats in 2018 to comfortably leading in over 60 seats, the Congress turnaround in Telangana has been massive. Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president Anumula Revanth Reddy, 56, who has emerged as the face of the party and has been aggressively taking on the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), occupies perhaps the biggest role in this arc. 

This leap was hard to predict even after elections were announced in October. At the time, Revanth was having a difficult time keeping the Congress unit together with differences rising among various factions. Local leaders are said to have raised complaints against him for being “autocratic” and “promoting his own supporters”.

But Revanth has been hitting the ground running, addressing at least four rallies per day, and transforming himself to a state-level leader. He is also said to have established a good rapport with the top leadership, especially Rahul Gandhi. Read Sreenivas Janyala's report

In Rajasthan, smaller parties were hoping to be kingmakers with exit polls not predicting a clear winner. However, with BJP emerging as the single largest party well past the halfway mark, the smaller outfits will be disappointed with their performance, as per the latest trends.

BSP’s state president Bhagwan Singh Baba had even said that as per party supremo Mayawati, the precondition for support to the biggest party - assuming that it stops short of the halfway mark -  would be that BSP’s winning candidate is made a minister and that the party would not lend unconditional support.

In 2008, and then again in 2018, BSP’s six MLAs each had lent “unconditional support” to the Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government but both times all the six MLAs merged with the Congress. 

The Rashtriya Loktantrik Party had tied up with Azad Samaj Party and was hoping to benefit from the Jat – Dalit combination. However, RLP was leading only in two seats, including that of its chief, Hanuman Beniwal.

The tribal parties of Bharat Adivasi Party and Bharatiya Tribal Party too were hoping to make significant gains in the tribal districts in Mewar region and leverage that to bargain for more say in the upcoming government. However, both these parties were leading on only one seat each. -- Hamza Khan writes

With several sitting BJP MPs in the fray in Rajasthan, some local leaders were forced to move to new seats to accommodate the national legislators. Among them was Narpat Singh Rajvi, a five-time MLA, son-in-law of former vice-president and state CM Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, and a Vasundhara Raje loyalist.

Rajvi was forced to give up his Vidhyadhar Nagar seat, from where he has been elected three times, to make way for Rajsamand MP Diya Kumari, a member of the erstwhile Jaipur royal family. After being denied his constituency in the first list, Rajvi had hit out at the party, calling the decision “shocking” and saying it was a “way to defame and hurt the legacy” of his father-in-law.

The BJP accommodated Rajvi by fielding him from Chittorgarh, a seat he had won in 1993 and 2003. But that left the sitting Chittorgarh MLA Chandrabhan Singh Akya out in the cold. “I was denied a ticket because (BJP state unit chief) C P Joshi saw me as a threat to his political future. I am confident of winning as an Independent because people are with me for the work that I have done for them in the past 10 years,” he had told The Indian Express. 

After 17 rounds of counting, the rebel candidate is in the lead by more than 9,000 votes against Rajvi, who had dismissed Akya during the campaign. While Kumari has amassed an unassailable 56,000-vote lead in Vidhyadhar Nagar, it appears Rajvi has lost out to the BJP's seat jugglery. -- Anjishnu Das writes

Results show that people accept Prime Minister Modi's "guarantee of delivering on guarantees", Union minister and the BJP's poll in-charge for Rajasthan Pralhad Joshi was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

On when the name of the new chief minister of Rajasthan will be decided, Joshi said it will happen "very soon and smoothly".

BJP leader from Rajasthan and Union minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's 'magic' has not worked in the desert state.

On the poll results in Telangana where the Congress was set to emerge victorious, Joshi said the party benefitted from anti-incumbency against the BRS and that the BJP needs to grow further there. (PTI)

As BJP paces ahead in Chhattisgarh, former state chief minister Raman Singh hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his efforts.

"The people of the state have shown faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's works and guarantees. The PM, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP president JP Nadda gave sufficient time (for electioneering) in Chhattisgarh," Singh was quoted as saying by PTI.

The people have shown faith in Modi's guarantees and not Baghel's promises, which is evident in the trends, he added.

Asked about his prospects for the chief minister's post, Singh said he will discharge whatever responsibility the party high command gives him.

In Rajasthan, the BJP had turned paper leaks into a big law and order issue – with some help from Sachin Pilot. The party had the face of anti-paper leak campaigns, as well as the crusader against never ending delay in government recruitments, Upen Yadav, joining the party just ahead of the polls. 

He was fielded from Shahpura in Jaipur but is now headed for a loss. As per the latest trends, he stood a distant third behind Manish Yadav of Congress and sitting MLA Alok Beniwal who was contesting as an independent. While Manish was leading with over 90,000 votes and Alok was second with 40,000, Upen Yadav had barely 7,500 votes. -- Hamza Khan writes

The bastion of the Asaduddin Owaisi-led All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) is the “Old City'' area within Hyderabad, which encompasses areas marked with historical remnants of the Deccan Sultanate and the Asif Jahi-era monuments.

As per Election Commision trends at 12:40 pm, the party is leading in Bahadurpura, Charminar, Chandrayangutta, and Malakpet – four of the nine seats it has contested — all within the Old city. In Chandrayangutta, Asaduddin’s brother Akkabruddin is leading by a margin of 17,786 votes. The question remains if it can move beyond its stronghold. In Rajendra Nagar and Jubilee Hills, within the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation limits but not in Old City, the party is trailing by 5,274 and 25,544 votes respectively. -- Vidhatri Rao writes

The success of BJP's campaign on identity politics, starting with the brutal murder of Udaipur tailor Kanhaiya Lal in Udaipur, allegations of appeasement politics against CM Ashok Gehlot, acquittal of 2008 Jaipur bomb blast accused, etc. was best reflected in at least two seats, Pokaran in Jaisalmer and Tijara in Alwar, which witnessed the second and third highest voting percentage in the state, respectively, after the tribal seat of Kushalgarh. 

In Pokaran, as per latest updates, saffron-clad Mahant Pratap Puri was leading against Minority Affairs minister Shale Mohammad by close to 17,000 votes after 8 rounds of voting – out of total 22. 

In Tijara, sitting MP from Alwar, Mahant Balaknath, was leading against Imran Khan of Congress by close to 3,000 votes, with over half the votes counted so far. Balaknath has also emerged as a preferred CM candidate by many across the state. -- Hamza Khan writes

The Congress, which seems set to win Telangana for the first time since its formation in 2014, did not have much hope about its chances in the state even at the beginning of this year, despite Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra receiving a good response in the state compared to even neighbouring Andhra Pradesh.

While the Congress central leadership had declared much in advance that it will not have any tie-up with the seemingly invincible Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in Telangana, a section of the party was baying for the blood of state Congress chief A Revanth Reddy.

The Congress’s thumping victory in Karnataka, injecting much-needed hope and confidence in the party in Telangana. Read Manoj C G's analysis here

Amid rising hopes within the BJP of a victory in Rajasthan, which voted on November 25, party circles are abuzz with speculation over who could be the next chief minister. 

While former CM Vasundhara Raje remains the BJP’s most popular face in the state, sources said the prospects of her return to the post for a third time are bleak if the party gets a clear majority in the 200-member Assembly and the central leadership has its way completely. Raje has an uneasy relationship with the high command, which denied her supporters’ demand to project her as the CM face, and a clear win will mean it won’t be under any obligation to humour her. 

However, should the BJP get only a thin majority in the tight contest, the party may fall back on her leadership to rally its troops together. Read more in Liz Mathew's report

Among the 90 seats since the first state elections in 2003, Jashpur, Bilaspur, Dongargarh and Narayanpur have always voted for the party that wins.

At Narayanpur, former minister Kedar Kashyap is ahead. In Jashpur, too, BJP is leading. In Bilaspur, Amar Agarwal is leading by a comfortable margin.

In Dongargarh, however, Congress’s new face Harshita Baghel is leading comfortably. -- Jayprakash Naidu writes

The union ministers who were fielded to beat back anti-incumbency in Madhya Pradesh are doing relatively well except for Union Minister Faggan Singh Kulaste who is trailing by 11,560 votes in Niwas.  

Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar is leading by 3700 votes in Dimani. He had faced flak over his son featuring in video leaks talking about cash transactions. Union Minister Prahlad Patel has a lead of 6521 votes in Narsinghpur, in Mahakoshal region. 

National General Secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya leading by 19,940 votes. The BJP is marginally doing better in the Malwa region considered a bellwether region of the state.  

Most notably, state Home Minister Narottam Mishra is trailing by 2243 votes in Datia. The Congress has fielded Rajendra Bharti, who has been contesting against Mishra since 2008, and was defeated by a thin margin of 2656 votes. The party had earlier given ticket to Avdhesh Nayak, a Brahmin face with an RSS background, and a staunch rival of Mishra, who was earlier given a ticket. Both men have buried their differences and have bowed to take on Mishra. -- Anand Mohan writes

In contrast to the exit polls that predicted smooth sailing for Congress in Chhattisgarh, the BJP is pacing ahead in the state. The Congress is trailing behind the BJP in 52 seats, and is leading in 36 seats.

The Congress party, in 2018, had swept the two tribal regions of Surguja with 14 seats and Bastar with 12 seats (winning one in bypolls). However, this time the BJP is leading in maximum seats in Surguja region in north as well as Bastar region in the south. 

Another surprise is the Konta seat, where former two-time MLA Manish Kunjam of Communist Party of India (CPI) has taken a lead against minister and five-time Congress MLA Kawasi Lakhma. Kunjam is ahead by 968 votes after round 3, though counting of votes for 14 more rounds remain.

In the Pali Tanakhar seat (ST reserved) of Bilaspur division, where Congress has never lost an election since 2003, the Gondwana Gantantra Party (GGP), which has an alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), is leading with a comfortable margin of 4,648 votes after 4 rounds, with 18 rounds to go. -- Jayprakash S Naidu writes

As counting trends indicated a clear edge for the BJP over the incumbent Ashok Gehlot-led Congress in Rajasthan, one big question making the rounds in the state political circles is, will Vasundhara Raje, the BJP’s tallest leader in the state, become the Chief Minister again.

Before the election results, the 70 year-old-old two-time CM Raje visited several temples over a few days, including the Mehandipur Balaji temple in Dausa and the Moti Doongari temple in Jaipur.

Significantly, the BJP did not project any CM candidate during its campaign for the Rajasthan elections, with Rane not given the lead role in steering it. Read Deep Mukherjee's report

Shivraj Singh Chouhan might just win another term in Madhya Pradesh, with the BJP taking a comfortable lead.

“Mahila sashaktikaran ki aawaaz hoon; main Shivraj hoon, main Shivraj hoon (I am the voice of women’s empowerment; I am Shivraj, I am Shivraj).”

Whatever the BJP leadership’s plans for him now that the party seems headed for a win, it might find it hard to dismiss the claim of incumbent four-time Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who led the battle from the front, particularly on the strength of his schemes for women. Read Anand Mohan J and Vikas Pathak's report

With early Rajasthan trends showing the BJP ahead in the state, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot waits with bated breath as his political future hangs in the balance. The 72-year-old Gehlot has thrice held the top post in the state but never consecutively, given the state’s trend of voting out the sitting government.

Despite the internal strife within the Rajasthan Congress owing to Gehlot’s tussle with former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot, the CM left no stone unturned to ensure another term. Taking a leaf out of the BJP’s playbook, Gehlot banked on welfare schemes launched by his government, and a publicity blitzkrieg around them, as his biggest weapons. In a marketing drive for his schemes, he also traversed the length and breadth of the state in recent months. -- Deep Mukherjee writes

In the high-stakes Kamareddy seat, where TPCC chief A Revanth Reddy is facing off CM K Chandrasekhar Rao, the contest seems to be neck-and-neck after round two of counting. Reddy is leading by 1,720 votes. 

Veteran Congress leader from Kamareddy and two-time MLA, Mohammed Ali Shabbir, who had lost the seat in the 2018 election to the BRS’s Gampa Govardhan by just 4,557 votes, was shifted to the neighbouring Nizamabad Urban seat to make way for Revanth after KCR threw his hat in the ring in Kamareddy.

Govardhan has won the seat five times since 1994 but faces anti-incumbency now.

In a seat that was to be a battle between the top leaders of the BRS and the Congress. the surprise here is the BJP's K Venkatramana Reddy's emergence, banking on his "local" image and making outreach efforts to few OBC communities.

Riding on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity, its organisational strength as well as on the goodwill created by the welfare schemes of the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government, the BJP appears to have taken a comfortable lead in Madhya Pradesh. 

Despite the so-called anti-incumbency factor in Madhya Pradesh, where the party has been in power for two decades except for a 15-month gap starting in 2018 during which Kamal Nath-led Congress was in government, the BJP is marching ahead to a historic win in Madhya Pradesh, a state that both the BJP and the RSS consider to be another Hindutva bastion after Gujarat. 

“In the last few weeks, we laid out our political strategies and micro-management to get the karyakartas to fight this election and snatch the win from the Congress, which was already celebrating the edge it had,” said another senior leader who was part of strategising for the party.

According to him the difference between 2018 and this election was the active involvement of the cadre in the election process. -- Liz Mathew reports

In what is seen as a suprise to election pandits, the ruling Congress party which was looking at a comfortable win in Chhattisgarh is trailing behind their arch rival Bharatiya Janata Party in 36 seats while Congress is ahead in 31 seats. Winners are not declared in any of the seats. 

The Congress party led by Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel is banking on the welfare schemes where they said to have spent Rs 1.75 lakh crore. However, the BJP poked holes in the welfare schemes with alleged corruption allegation though no case have been registered. 

The BJP leaders targeted the Baghel government over the Enforcement Directorate (ED) cases like coal levy, illegal liquor sale and Mahadev app. The BJP also fought on communal issues in Kawardha and Bemetara and conversion issue of tribals to Christianity in Bastar. 

Though BJP went into the elections without having a face for Chief Minister, the vacuum was filled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi who held multiple public rallies with Union Home Minister Amit Shah asking public in his speeches to vote in the name of Modi and not their MLA candidates. 

Though the BJP in Center initially was against the higher Minimum Support Price (MSP) and bonus for paddy procurement, looking at its popularity among farmers, the BJP almost equalised their promise on paddy procurement to that made by Congress. -- Jayprakash S Naidu writes

The BJP’s Etela Rajender, bete noire of Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao who is contesting against the CM in Gajwel, and also in home turf Huzurabad, is having a tough time retaining lead in both the constituencies.  

KCR has established a lead in Gajwel. While BRS’s Padi Kaushik Reddy has established a slender lead in Huzurabad from where Rajender had won in by-poll in November 2021. 

Rajender, a former BRS leader and minister who was dropped by KCR from Cabinet in May 2021, joined the BJP and is its MLA from Huzurabad. Ever since he quit the BRS, Rajender has been itching for an electoral fight against KCR, often taunting that he will defeat the CM.

Read how KCR retains his popularity in Gajwel. -- Sreenivas Janyala writes

With early trends showing the Bharat Adivasi Party (BAP) ahead in four seats of southern Rajasthan, Dungarpur, Chorasi, Ghatol and Banswara, here's a look at how latest entry to the state politics served as 'wake-up call'. 

BAP president Mohan Roat, 44, who is contesting from Sagwara, lists the concern over dominant parties like the Congress and BJP “destroying our culture”, plus reservation and unemployment, as his party’s top concerns. “We have our own customary laws. 

Formed only a few months before the Assembly polls, the party is contesting 27 seats (Rajasthan has 25 ST-reserved constituencies). Read Deeptiman Tiwary's report

In Telangana, the Congress party has a slender lead in over 60 Assembly seats. After the second round of counting, however, the BRS is slowly catching up.

BRS supremo K Chandrashekhar Rao is looking to defeat anti-incumbency and return to power for a third time. However, a resurgent Congress remains its biggest challenge. The man to watch out for is Revanth Reddy, who hopes to become the chief minister should the Congress secure a win.

The BJP appears to have picked up an early lead in Madhya Pradesh -- a setback for Kamal Nath. The Congress veteran who hopes to return as the chief minister of the state. Nath has been the MP Congress Committee (MPCC) president for several years. He has represented the Chhindwara parliamentary seat for nine terms since 1980, becoming one of the longest-serving MPs in the country.Spearheading the Congress campaign, Nath adopted a soft Hindutva line by projecting himself as a devotee of Lord Hanuman to counter the BJP’s Hindutva card. -- Anand Mohan J writes

In Madhya Pradesh, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan visited a number of religious sites in the run-up to the results. He started the week with a visit to Guru Hargobind Sahib Gurudwara in the outskirts of Bhopal. He then visited his constituency, Budhni, where he met a flower seller and sought her blessings. The flower seller, Prem Bai, had earlier given a ring to Chouhan as a good luck charm during a campaign stop.

On counting day eve, Chouhan took out time to water some plants in Bhopal. Read report

Early trends showing the Bharat Adivasi Party (BAP) ahead in four seats of southern Rajasthan—Dungarpur, Chorasi, Ghatol and Banswara. On October 9, the Election Commission allotted the symbol of a hockey stick and ball to the BAP for contesting in Rajasthan. -- Deep Mukherjee writes

Counting of postal ballots started at 8 am and at 8:30 am parallel counting of EVM votes also began. Counting started at 49 centres across the state for the 119 Assembly seats. Early trends indicate that the Congress is leading in many segments. Congress is slightly ahead in all 12 seats in erstwhile undivided district of Nalgonda. 

Leads are fluctuating In Kamareddy where Chief minister K Chandrashekhar Rao is taking on TPCC chief A revanth Reddy as well as Gajwel where KCR is facing off the BJP'S Etela Rajender. The Charminar Assembly constituency, a bastion of the Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM, will be declared first. The Serilingampally seat will be declared last. -- Sreenivas Janyala writes

One of the biggest challenges for the BJP was beating the "fatigue factor" ahead of the Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections. Shivraj Singh Chouhan has been the state's longest-serving chief minister. At the moment as early trends based on postal ballots trickle in, BJP appears to have an edge in MP.

The big question of this election is, can four-time CM Chouhan counter anti-incumbency to script the BJP’s victory and retain his chair? He has banked on his government’s women welfare schemes and pro-poor policies to win him back another term. The CM was, however, pushed to background as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah took control of the BJP campaiging in the state. -- Anand Mohan J writes

The stakes are high for the Congress which is in play in all the five states. The BJP is in play in only three states where it is in direct contest with the Congress — Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. 

The long shadow of price rise and unemployment has fallen on the elections. Mr Modi avoided both but the Congress hammered away on both subjects.

These five state elections will be decisive on the question who will be the principal challenger to the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. It will also throw up the issues that are of the most concern to the people. Read more