Counting of votes of Madhya Pradesh assembly elections begins

NEW DELHI: The counting of votes of assembly elections held in Madhya Pradesh on November 17 began at 8 am on Sunday.

The Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections were held on November 17, 2023, to elect all 230 members of the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly. Voting was carried out in a single phase.

Most exit-poll projections released on Thursday put the BJP in the lead, with the Congress seen to be coming up short and not cashing in on the 'anti-incumbency' as they had hoped to.

Some exit polls, however, gave an advantage to the Congress party. Madhya Pradesh has been a BJP stronghold for the last twenty years, barring the 15-month tenure of the Kamal Nath-led government when Congress came to power in 2018. The BJP fought the poll under a largely collective leadership while Congress projected former Chief Minister Kamal Nath as its chief ministerial face.

According to the results of exit polls, the welfare schemes of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, referred to as "Mamaji" by people, along with that of the BJP government at the Centre seemed to have had an impact on the electorate in Madhya Pradesh which has a sizeable section of tribals and Dalits.

The last state assembly polls in 2018 saw the Congress coming to power, with Kamal Nath taking oath as the chief minister. Later, Jyotiraditya Scindia, along with 22 MLAs, switched over to the BJP and Chouhan again assumed office as Chief Minister of the state.

The state's overall turnout hit a record high of 76.22 per cent for the 230-member Assembly this year, up from 74.97 per cent in 2018, when the Congress won but was toppled by defections just over a year later.

In Madhya Pradesh, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Indian National Congress (INC) stand as the primary political forces. However, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) led by Mayawati and the Samajwadi Party (SP) also hold significance in the state's political landscape.

In the 2018 elections, BJP secured 109 seats, while BSP and SP won 2 and 1 seat(s) respectively. Meanwhile, the poll results on Sunday will decide the political future of the state's longest-serving Chouhan and his Congress challenger Kamal Nath besides that of some other senior leaders from both the parties.

Shivraj Chouhan assumed the role of Chief Minister in 2005 and was subsequently sworn in again in 2008 and 2013. He returned to power in March 2020 after then senior Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia's rebellion brought down the Kamal Nath government.

Congress veteran and ex-CM Kamal Nath has been the MP Congress Committee (MPCC) president for several years. Nath has represented the Chhindwara parliamentary seat for nine terms since 1980, becoming one of the longest-serving MPs in the country.

Digvijaya Singh, Senior Congress leader and two-time CM was an integral part of the Kamal Nath-led party campaign. Singh has been in politics since 1977 and is known for his outspoken and controversial views on various issues.

He is currently a Rajya Sabha MP and a member of the Congress Working Committee (CWC). Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia is also a prominent leader of the BJP who has quickly climbed up the ladder.

A former Congress leader, Scindia entered politics in 2002 when he won the Guna Lok Sabha seat necessitated due to the death of his father and Congress stalwart Madhavrao Scindia.