Amid strong security measures, the counting of votes for the state legislative assemblies of Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Telangana will be begin on Sunday. The assembly elections in 2023 will serve as a good yardstick ahead of 2024 Lok Sabha general elections.
The counting of votes in Mizoram, which also went to polls along with four other states last month, has been rescheduled to December 4, Monday, the Election Commission (EC) informed earlier.
The process of tallying votes will commence at 8 am today at assigned locations. The elections taking place in five states, covering various regions of the country, are expected to influence the direction of the political climate leading up to the Lok Sabha elections next year.
The election commission has confirmed the change in the schedule for counting votes in the small northeastern state. This decision was made in response to appeals from civil society in the state, as Sunday is an important day for the Christian majority population.
The votes will be counted for 230 seats in Madhya Pradesh, 90 in Chhattisgarh, 119 in Telangana, and 199 in Rajasthan. However, the voting for one seat in Rajasthan was postponed earlier due to the unfortunate demise of the Congress candidate.
"All arrangements for the counting of votes in Chhattisgarh have been completed and officials in adequate numbers have been posted for the purpose in all the 90 assembly constituencies," the state's chief electoral officer, Reena Baba Saheb Kangale, told reporters on Saturday.
Kangale said, "The counting of votes will start from 8 am in all 90 assembly constituencies. For the counting process, we have assigned 90 returning officers, 416 assistant returning officers, 4596 counting personnel and 1698 micro-observers."
In the meantime, during an interview with ANI on Saturday, Praveen Gupta, the chief electoral officer for Rajasthan, stated that all necessary preparations have been made to ensure a smooth and problem-free counting of votes.
"All the arrangements are in place for the counting day and the officials have arrived at the designated centres as well. The votes will be counted across 36 centres at the headquarters of district election officers in a centralised manner. All necessary preparations have been made to ensure that the process goes off without a hitch," Gupta said.
"Adequate security arrangements have been made at all counting centres in the state. Counting for the 199 Assembly constituencies will begin at 8 am tomorrow. Once the strong room is opened, the postal ballots, which number about 5 lakh, will be counted first. A total of 1121 assistant returning officers (ARO) have been assigned for the counting process," the CEO further added.
Adequate security measures have also been implemented in the nearby state of Madhya Pradesh, where the outcomes of candidates competing for 236 Assembly seats will be determined on the day of counting.
Speaking about the security measures at the counting centres, the Commissioner of Police, Bhopal, Harinarayan Chari Mishra, said, "Adequate police personnel have been deployed for the counting of votes tomorrow. The teams will evaluate and further stock of the security arrangements in and around the counting centres once the counting gets underway tomorrow. The movement of traffic will be diverted on the main road tomorrow."
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) stated that the Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) personnel have been assigned the task of monitoring the electronic voting machines (EVMs) and transporting them from secure storage rooms to the counting centers. Additionally, the CEO mentioned that adequate security measures have been implemented outside the counting centers as well.
Earlier, on November 30th, Thursday, the exit polls were released after the conclusion of polling in Telangana. These polls provided different numbers for the five states, indicating that the BJP had an advantage in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, while the Congress had a clear lead in Telangana and Chhattisgarh.
Furthermore, as per pollsters, the ruling MNF party was leading in the competition for power in Mizoram.
While the exit polls were nearly unanimous in favoring the Congress in Telangana, some predicted a tight competition in Rajasthan, with the Congress holding a slight advantage.
According to a projection from an exit poll, the Congress party was leading in the electoral competition in Madhya Pradesh too.
If the Congress party is able to hold onto Rajasthan, as well as win Chhattisgarh and remove the ruling BRS from Telangana, it will greatly boost the party's morale.
Exit polls have forecasted that the Congress party is likely to come to power in Telangana, while the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) is expected to fall short of the majority after ruling the youngest state of India for a decade.
In Madhya Pradesh, the majority of exit polls indicated that the BJP is in a favorable position, as they projected the Congress party to not perform well in the elections. The Congress party had hoped to benefit from public dissatisfaction with the current government, but it seems that their efforts may not be successful.
Most exit polls indicated that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has been in power in the state for nearly 18 out of the last 20 years, is likely to secure another term with a significant majority. However, one exit poll favored the Congress party, while another predicted that both parties were evenly matched.
Madhya Pradesh held elections on November 17 for its 230 seats, and the votes will be counted on December 3 along with four other states.
In the state of Rajasthan, the exit polls further confirmed the belief that there would be a tough competition, as they varied in their predictions of which party would emerge as the winner in this important Hindi heartland state. It is worth noting that this state has a long-standing tradition of not re-electing the current government for almost thirty years.
The results of the exit polls indicated that the involvement of smaller parties and independent candidates, referred to as others, could be significant in determining the government formation after the announcement of the results on December 3. The state of Rajasthan conducted elections for 199 out of 200 assembly seats on November 25.
In Chhattisgarh, the results of exit polls indicate that the Congress party has a significant advantage. These polls suggest that the current ruling party is likely to regain power, while the BJP is expected to present a strong competition, which is different from the 2018 elections.
The pre-Lok Sabha polls, which take place months before the actual elections, hold great importance for both the BJP and Congress due to a number of reasons
