Successfully bucking anti-incumbency, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was on track to retain power in Madhya Pradesh with a massive two-thirds majority in the Assembly polls on Sunday.
Close to eight hours after the counting of votes began for the November 17 pols for the 230-seat Assembly in the key Hindi heartland state, the BJP was leading in 166 constituencies, leaving the principal-opposition Congress far behind. The Congress, which even days back seemed to be fancying its chances, was ahead in only 62 seats. The Bahujan Samaj Party and Bharat Adivasi Party were in the lead in one seat each.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Union Minister of State for Jal Shakti and Food-Processing Industries Prahalad Singh Patel, parliamentarians Ganesh Singh, Rakesh Singh, Riti Pathak, Assembly Speaker Girish Gautam and BJP General Secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya are ahead of rivals in their respective constituencies. Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Narendra Singh Tomar has already won.However, Union MoS for Steel and Rural Development Faggansingh Kulaste is trailing as is state Home Minister Narottam Mishra.
Congress state head and erstwhile CM Kamal Nath is leading in his traditional bastion Chhindwara and Rajya Sabha Member Digvijaya Singh’s son Jaivardhan Singh is now ahead of the pack in Raghogarh. Former Congress ministers Jitu Patwari, Sachin Yadav and Sajjan Singh Verma are losing.
In stark contrast to the silence of Congress bigwigs, a festive atmosphere prevails at the state office of the BJP, which has been in power almost uninterruptedly since 2003, save a 15-month hiatus when the Congress formed the government after emerging as the single-largest party.
However, the Congress had to bow out of office in March 2020, as MLAs loyal to Mr Jyotiraditya Scindia revolted and crossed over to the BJP.
The MP verdict also showcases a fascinating tell of the incumbent Chief Minister, who was being written off by the pollsters even days back, bucking, or more appropriately, vanquishing anti-incumbency. As the verdict became clear, Chouhan wrote on social media that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “skillful leadership” paved the way for this success.
Counting is underway in 52 district headquarters for revealing the electoral fortunes of 2,533 candidates including 252 women who are in the fray for formation of a new House. Three-tier security arrangements are in place and randomisation of counting personnel was also three-tier.
As many as 4,369 tables have been placed for electronic voting machines and 692 for postal votes.The turnout was 77.82 percent during the single-phase voting on November 17 as compared to 75.63 percent in 2018. A total 51,259 voters above 80 years of age and 12,093 differently-able ones exercised their franchise from their respective dwellings.
The BJP and the Congress fielded their representatives for all seats whereas other figures included Bahujan Samaj Party 181; Samajwadi Party 71 and 1,166 independents. An electorate exceeding 5.60 crore – including more than 2.71 crore women and 1,292 of the third gender – were eligible to participate in the democratic exercise. (UNI)
