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Elections 2023: BJP leads Madhya Pradesh in early trends, Cong behind
Madhya Pradesh is the largest of the five states that voted during the current of elections and will see a head-to-head battle between the BJP and the Congress
The incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was ahead in the early trends in Madhya Pradesh at 10am, two hours after counting for the state’s assembly elections began.
During the first round of counting in 200 of the 230 seats in the Madhya Pradesh assembly, trends showed that the BJP was leading in over 100 seats, edging out the Congress, which was ahead in about 90.
To be sure, just 4% of all votes in the state have been counted as of 10am and the trends are likely to evolve through the day. There will be between 16 and 24 rounds of counting in the state, said election commission officials.
Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Congress state president Kamal Nath as well as BJP leaders Narottam Mishra and Prahlad Patel were leading from their respective constituencies.
Chouhan in a post on X (formerly Twitter) said “Bharatiya Janata Party is going to form the government again with full majority.”
Nath, meanwhile, said, “I have full faith in the people of Madhya Pradesh that they will keep their future safe.”
Madhya Pradesh is the largest of the five states that voted during the current of elections and will see a head-to-head battle between the BJP, which has ruled the state for 18 of the last 20 years, and the Congress, which hoped to cash in on anti-incumbency to dislodge chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
The state voted in a single phase on November 17.
A majority of exit polls predicted an intense battle between the ruling BJP and the Congress — two gave the edge to the Congress, one to the BJP and two forecast a dead heat. But two other prominent surveys — IndiaToday-AxisMyIndia and Today’s Chanakya-News 24 were the outliers, predicting a sweep for the BJP and a decimation for the Congress.
The BJP fielded a bevy of senior ministers and parliamentarians, in addition to talking about its welfare outreach and Chouhan’s image. The Congress focussed on anti-incumbency and corruption allegations against Chouhan.
