Results of assembly elections in five states to be declared today; BJP, Congress engage in close battle

The wait is over. The results for assembly elections to five states, including Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana, Mizoram and Chhattisgarh, will be announced on Tuesday. The time of the start of vote counting is 8 am. Election trends will start coming out soon. All the arrangements have been made by the Election Commission for the successful completion of the counting process. To watch the election coverage, tune into News Nation. Or you can click here to watch the live telecast.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been in power in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh since last 15 years. While the Congress is ruling Mizoram since 2008, K Chandrasekhar Rao alias KCR is facing the resurgent Congress-TDP alliance in Telangana, whereas Vasundhara Raje will try to end the tradition of 'Yo-Yo Politics' in Rajasthan. 

In the 2013 Assembly elections, the BJP had won Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh decisively. The party under Shivraj Singh Chouhan had won 165 seats in the 230-member strong Assembly, while the Congress had managed to win only 58 seats.

In Chhattisgarh, Raman Singh had scored an impressive hat-trick with 49 seats in the Assembly of 90 seats. Vasundhara Raje had displaced Congress with a massive mandate in Rajasthan.

The Congress was able to retain Mizoram under Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla. The Congress party is contesting these elections without any CM face in four states apart from Mizoram.

Sachin Pilot and Ashok Gehlot have emerged as the top contenders for CM's post in Rajasthan.

In Madhya Pradesh, Kamal Nath and Jyotiraditya Scindia are the frontrunners for the chief minister's position. The party is facing a problem of plenty in Telangana and Chhattisgarh. 

Several exit polls have predicted different outcomes for these five states. According to News Nation Exit Poll, the Congress party is likely to win Rajasthan and is also in a position to dislodge Raman Singh in Chhattisgarh.

However, the BJP is likely to be emerged as the single largest party in Madhya Pradesh. According to News Nation Exit Poll, the KCR-led TRS will remain the biggest party in the Telangana Assembly, while the Congress is expected to be shown a door by the MNF in Mizoram.

The election results 2018 are important as it could make a big impact on the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. All the major political parties would want to end the year on a winning note.

In Madhya Pradesh, while Chouhan has called himself the "biggest surveyor" in claiming a win for the BJP, senior Congress leader Kamal Nath said his party would get at least 140 seats to oust the saffron party and form a majority government.

The state went to polls on November 28 with a voter turnout of about 75 per cent. As many as 2,899 candidates are in fray for 230 seats.

In Telangana, the fate of 1,821 candidates contesting the Telangana Assembly election will be decided on Tuesday when the counting of votes will be taken up.

The maiden polls for the 119-seat Telangana Assembly were held on December 7 with a voter turnout of 73.20 per cent.

Chief Electoral Officer Rajat Kumar said necessary arrangements have been made for the counting day and the strongrooms, where EVMs are kept, secured with central paramilitary forces providing "first cordon of security."

Mizoram has 40 Assembly seats and the voting was held on November 28. More than 7.70 lakh voters had cast their vote.

In Rajasthan, as many as 2,274 candidates, including 187 women, are in the fray for 199 out of the 200 assembly constituencies in the state. The election in Alwar district's Ramgarh constituency has been postponed due to the death of Bahujan Samaj Party(BSP) candidate Laxman Singh.

According to the State Election Commission, there are 4,77,89,815 voters in the state among whom, 2,28,28,018 are female and 2,49,61,560 male voters. There are 1,16,944 service voters whereas 15 NRI electors and 222 third gender electors in the state. Voter turnout recorded till 5 PM is 72.7 per cent.

The elections to the 90-member Chhattisgarh Assembly were conducted in two phases on November 12 and 20. The first phase of elections at 18 Assembly segments across the eight Naxal-hit districts took place on November 12. According to the Election Commission of India, a voter turnout of between 60-70 per cent was recorded at the Bastar division and the Rajnandgaon district under the shadow of the Maoist threat. In the second phase of polling held on November 20 in the 72 Assembly seats, the voter turnout was recorded at 71.93 per cent. The overall turnout was less by nearly three per cent as compared to the last elections, according to the top election body.