Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Telangana and Rajasthan election results 2018 LIVE updates: Counting of votes for Assembly Elections 2018, which is being termed as semi-finals before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, began in the morning today. While most of the exit polls gave the Congress an edge at least in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, the ruling BJP rejected the predictions, at the same time seeking to de-link the state polls from next year’s Parliamentary elections.

High voter turnouts were recorded in all five states — Rajasthan, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram — that went to polls between November 12 and December 7.

A poll of all exit poll results suggested a neck-and-neck contest between the Congress and the BJP in MP, while predicting the victory of Congress in Rajasthan and a hung assembly for Chhattisgarh.

The exit polls also predict loss for the ruling Congress in Mizoram, the party’s last bastion in the Northeast, while K Chandrashekar Rao’s TRS will most likely retain Telangana.

While the Assembly Elections 2018 saw intense campaigns by all parties, the results will make it clear if the opposition parties trying to unite ahead of the 2019 elections to defeat BJP will be able to keep the flock together and accept to be led by the Congress.

All eyes are now on election results 2018. Here are the LIVE updates.

11.45 pm: Madhya Pradesh Congress chief Kamal Nath wrote to Governor Anandiben Patel late night, staking claim to form government in the state, according to a PTI report. The party claimed to have the support of Independent candidates.

11:30 pm: Numbers as per ECI trends

Chhattisgarh: BJP has won 9 seats and leading on 6. Congress has won 40 seats and leading in 28.

MP: BJP has won 79 and leading on 30, Congress declared winner in 78 seats and is leading in 36.

Rajasthan: Results declared for 198 out of 199 seats. Congress: 99; BJP: 73; BSP: 6.

Telangana: All 119 results declared. TRS wins 88, Congress 19 and AIMIM retains all its 7 seats.

9.05 pm: Numbers as per ECI trends –

Chhattisgarh: BJP wins 3 and leading on 13. Congress expands lead to 49 and wins 19. BSP leading on 2 and JCC on 4.

MP: BJP leading on 71 and wins 39, Congress leading on 78 and wins 35. BSP leading on 2, SP on 1, Independents leading on 2 and win 2.

Rajasthan: BSP wins 6, BJP wins 72 and leading on 1, CPI(M) wins 2, Congress wins 85 and leading on 14, Independents win 12 and leading on 1, Others win 6.

Telangana: The TRS wins 77 and leading on 11, Congress wins 18 and leading on 1, AIMIM wins 6 and leading on 1, rest win 5.

9.03 pm: Vasundhara Raje addresses media in Jaipur. Congratulates Congress on their victory in Rajasthan.  “I accept this mandate by the people. BJP has worked a lot for them in these 5 years, I hope the next party takes those policies and works forward,” she says.

8.58 pm: Congress president Rahul Gandhi congratulates party workers. Says his party will defeat the BJP in 2019.

“BJP has an ideology, we’ll fight against and defeat them. We have defeated them and we will do this again in 2019. But we don’t want to erase anyone from the face of India,” he says at a press conference in New Delhi.

READ MORE | ‘PM Modi taught me what not to do’: Rahul Gandhi lauds party workers for states win

“When PM was elected to power, he was elected on three platforms—employment, corruption and farmers. It was in people’s mind that PM will fight against corruption. Now people think that PM Modi himself is corrupt,” he says.

7.36 pm: Chhattisgarh: TS Singhdeo of Congress wins Ambikapur with 1,00,439. Bhupesh Baghel is leading with 53,446 votes in Patan and JCC’s Ajit Jogi is ahead with 72,410 votes in Marwahi. Raman Singh, who resigned today as Chhattisgarh Chief Minister, was leading in Rajnandgaon with 52,618 votes.

7.23 pm: A jubilant Ashok Gehlot says ever since Rahul Gandhi tackled PM Modi  and Amit Shah in Gujarat, the Congress graph is going up and “the graph of Modi ji is constantly going down. It’s a sign”.

7.12 pm: In Madhya Pradesh, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is leading in Budhni with 1,13,894 votes. Trailing behind with 60,699 votes is Congress’ Arun Subhashchandra.

7.00 pm: In Rajasthan, Sachin Pilot won with 1,09,040 votes from Tonk. Ashok Gehlot won from Sardarpura with 92,934 votes.  On the other hand, Vasundhara Raje won from Jhalarpatan with 1,16,484 votes.

6.50 pm: A delegation led by MNF president Zoramthanga meets Mizoram Governor Kummanam Rajasekharan. The MNF won the state assembly elections bagging 26 seats in the 40-member assembly. Zoramthanga won from Aizawl East – I with 8358 votes.

6.45 pm: Congress wins 56 seats in Rajasthan and is leading on 42. Having won 38 and leading on 36, the BJP is trailing far behind. Independents have bagged 5 and are leading in 8.

6.36 pm:  Outgoing CM of Mizoram Lal Thanhawla resigns. “This is very disappointing. I didn’t expect this. I think I underestimated the new formation ZPM,” he says. Thanhawla, who ruled Mizoram for 10 years, lost on both seats he contested.

5.58: Congress leaders in Chhattisgarh say the mandate is “a victory of democracy”.

5.44 pm: Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh resigns. He ruled the Naxal-hit state for 15 years.

“We respect the mandate that the public has given. I congratulate Congress on this success. I consider it my luck to serve the public of Chhattisgarh for the last 15 years,” says Singh, adding that he takes full responsibility for the defeat.

5.42 pm: Mizoram was the last Congress bastion in the northeast. The victory of MNF, an ally of the NDA, means that all the states in northeast are now under either BJP or NDA control.

Read More | MNF wins Mizoram after 10 years, ousts Congress from last Northeast stronghold

5.40 pm: Mizo National Front (MNF) wins Mizoram by grabbing 26 seats in the 40-member assembly – 5 more than majority. Independent candidates grab 8 seats, the Congress 5 and BJP 1.

5.30 pm: Numbers as per Election Commission of India –

Chhattisgarh: BJP leading in 18, Congress in 64, BSP in 3 and JCC in 4.

Madhya Pradesh: BJP has won 3 and is leading in 104, Congress leading in 114, Others leading in 9.

MUST READ | Madhya Pradesh results 2018: Who will Chouhan’s state go with finally?

Rajasthan: BJP has won 15 and leading in 58, Congress has won 22 and is leading in 78, BSP has won 3 and is leading on 3, Others have won 6 and leading in 13.

Telangana: TRS has won 28 seats and leading in 60, Congress is leading in 13 and won 6 seats, AIMIM is leading on 6 and won 1, others have won 2 and leading on 3.

5.15 pm: TRS chief and Telangana caretaker Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao says he will actively participate in national politics. His party is leading on 68 seats and has won 20 in the 119-member Telangana assembly. The majority mark is 60.

5 pm: MNF set to form government on its own in Mizoram. Zoramthanga, president of MNF, rules out an alliance with the BJP. Says his first priorities include the imposition of a prohibition on liquor, repair roads and implement Social Economic Development Programme (SEDP).

3: 43 pm: Chhattisgarh Congress president Bhupesh Baghel thanks people of the state for taking fight in their own hands. “We are grateful to Rahul Gandhi, we fought for the people,” he says. When asked about who the CM candidate will be, Baghel puts ball in court of high command. Baghel is leading from Patan by over 9,000 votes.

2.50 pm: BJP office in Raipur, Chhattisgarh, wears deserted look as the party crumbles terribly before a resurgent Congress in the Naxal-hit state. Going by the current trends, the BJP is set to lose the state it has ruled uninterrupted for 15 years with Raman Singh at the helm.

2.30 pm: Numbers now –

Chhattisgarh: BJP leading in 13, Congress on 62

MP: BJP leading in 112, Congress in 107

Rajasthan: BJP leading in 71, Congress in 101, Independents on 12, BSP on 5, RLP on 4, Others 5

Telangana: Congress leading on 21, TRS leading on 84 and won 2, AIMIM on 6, and Others 6

Mizoram: Congress has won 4 and is leading on 1, MNF won 17 and leading on 8, Independents have won 5 and leading on 3

ALSO READ | Telangana verdict: It’s a clean sweep, TRS set to form government again

2.16 pm: Congress workers across the country seen celebrating the party’s performance in three key states – Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. While the Congress is leading comfortably in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, it is giving a going neck-and-neck with the BJP in MP. But the Congress lost Mizoram to MNF.

ALSO READ | MNF crushes Cong, set to win Mizoram; 5-time CM Lal Thanhawla loses both seats

2.11 pm: Telangana caretaker Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao defeats Vanteru Pratap Reddy in Gajwel by over 50,000 votes.

 

1.53: Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh is leading in Rajnandgaon by a margin of just 1375 votes. Close behind is Congress’ Karuna Shukla, the niece of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

1.51 pm: Leader of the opposition in the Chhattisgarh assembly and Congress leader TS Singh Deo is ahead in Ambikapur. He is the sitting MLA from the constituency.

1.47 pm: In Chhattisgarh, former Chief Minister Ajit Jogi is leading in Marwahi. Jogi left the Congress to form Janta Congress Chhattisgarh (JCC), which is contesting its first election in the state.

1.38: Congress leader Sachin Pilot says that though his party is galloping towards full majority, the Congress is open to support from all like-minded and anti-BJP parties. “We are in touch,” he says.

ALSO READ | Congress will form govt in Rajasthan, open for alliances: Ashok Gehlot, Sachin Pilot

1.35 pm: MNF wins 14 seats in 40-member Mizoram assembly and is leading on 9. The magic number in Mizoram is 21. While Congress has won 2 seats, Independents have taken 5.

1.27 pm: TJ Lalnuntluanga of Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM) defeats Mizoram Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla in Serchhip.  Thanhawla has now lost both seats he contested from.

1.17 pm: Official EC data shows BJP leading on 111 seats, Congress on 108 and others on 11 in Madhya Pradesh. The majority-mark here is 116.

12.35 pm: Former Rajasthan Chief Minister and Congress leader Ashok Gehlot said that his party has won the mandate. He expresses confidence that the party will get clear majority, but says that “independent and others can support us if they want”.

 

 

12.25 pm: MNF wins 5 seats in the  40-seat assembly and is leading on 17.

12.10 pm: MNF’s TJ Lalnuntluanga defeats Mizoram Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla in Champhai South seat.

11:55 am: Defeat writ large in Chhattisgarh for ruling BJP. Congress leading in 61, BJP in 19.

11: 52 am: It continues to be neck-and-neck in MP. BJP 111, Congress 110

11: 45 am: Verdict out in two Telangana seats.  Akbaruddin Owaisi of AIMIM wins from Chandrayanagutta, M Sanjay Kumar of TRS win Jagtial. Celebrations have begun at the TRS headquarters in Hyderabad.

11.30 am: Congress is marching towards victory in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, says Rajasthan Congress chief Sachin Pilot. He said party chief Rahul Gandhi will decide who will become the CM.

11.03 am: Chhattisgarh: CM Raman Singh is leading from Rajnandgaon. ECI website yet to share status of Chhattisgarh results.

11:00 am: In Telangana, TRS president K. Chandrashekhar Rao’s daughter K. Kavitha says there was never a doubt that the party will retain power. Party heads for majority.

10:47 am: Chhattisgarh: Trends clear in 89 of the 90 seats. Congress leading in 53 seats, BJP in 26. The magic figure to win the state in 46.

 

 

10:41 am: Telangana update: Trends clear in all 119 seats now. TRS leading in 86 seats, Congress and allies in 21, NJP in 5 and others in 7.

10: 35 am: Mizoram: MNF takes lead in 25 seats, Congress in 10.

10:31 am: Rajasthan: Many siting ministers are trailing. Congress ahead in 101 seats.  Till last reports came in, the ministers who were trailing were Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria (Udaipur), Transport Minister Yoonus Khan (Tonk), Social Justice Minister Arun Chaturvedi (Civil Lines), Water Resources Minister Rampratap (Hanumangarh), Agriculture Minister Prabhu Lal Saini (Anta), UDH Minister Srichand Kriplani (Nimahera), Gaupalan Minister Otaram Devasi (Sirohi seat), Health Minister Kalicharan (Malvia Nagar), Cooperative Minister Ajay Singh (Degana), Mines Minister Surendra Pal Singh (Karanpura), Higher Education Minister Kiran Maheshwari (Rajsamand) and Industry Minister Rajpal Singh (Jhotwara).

10: 17 am: Market watch: Benchmark equity indices opened with heavy losses Tuesday ahead of the assembly election results in five states; Rupee plummets after RBI Governor Urjit Patel’s resignation on Monday.

10: 15 am: MP Updates: Congress leading in 103 seats now, BJP in 95

10:11 am: Mizoram update: Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla is trailing behind Zoram People’s Movement nominee Lalduhoma in his home turf Serchhip. He is also contesting from Champhai South.

10: 08 am: Telangana: Akbaruddin Owaisi, younger brother of AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, is leading from Hyderabad’s Chandrayangutta

10:05 am: A lot is at stake for both ruling BJP, and the Opposition Congress in the five states where counting of votes for the Assembly elections 2018 are going on. READ |  Assembly Elections 2018 | Everything you need to know about the 5 poll-bound 

9.58 am: Rajasthan Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria of BJP is trailing in Udaipur seat

9.40 am: Rajasthan: CM Vasundhara Raje is leading in her Jhalrapatan seat against Manvendra Singh of Congress. Manvendra Singh is the son of former BJP leader Jaswant Singh.

9.30 am: Chhattisgarh early trends show 3-time CM Raman Singh trailing in Rajnandgaon. Congress leading in 39 seats, BJP in 27 and BSP+ in 5

9. 28 am: KCR leading by 2,861 votes over his nearest Congress rival Vanteru Pratap Reddy in Gajwel seat after first round: PTI

9.24 am: MP Update: It’s neck-and-neck. Congress leads in 57, BJP in 51. Only 2 for BSP so far.

9.20 am: Rajasthan: Congress leading in 71 seats now, BJP in 61

9. 19 am: In Madhya Pradesh, BJP leads in 46 seats, Congress in 39, BSP in 2

9.18 am: Mizoram: Will BJP open its account in the NE state? Saffron party leading in 2 seats.  MNF in 16, Congress in 11.

9.16 am: Chhattisgarh update: BJP leading in 29, Congressin 23, BSP+ in 4.

9.12 am: Telangana update: Preliminary trends show ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi way ahead of Congress+

9:11 am: ECI website gives status for 1 Mizoram seat. MNF leads

9.09 am: Rajasthan updates: Congress and allies lead in 54, BJP in 35, BSP in 1.

9.07 am: All eyes on EVMs

Will EVMs be blamed if BJP wins today? And if Congress manages to wrest the states, will it still blame the EVMs?

#Results2018 #AssemblyElections2018 Will EVMs be blamed if BJP wins today? And if Congress manages to wrest the states, will it still blame the EVMs?https://t.co/1VRrjO79DK

— The Statesman (@TheStatesmanLtd) December 11, 2018

9.05 am: Telangana update: K Chandrashekar Rao leads in home turf.

8.33 am: Early trends: Congress and TRS leading one each in Telangana; BJP leading in five and Congress in eight in Rajasthan; In Chhattisgarh, BJP, Congress and Janta Congress leading in one each.

8:30 am: Congress has taken a huge early lead in Rajasthan.

8.29 am: 30 minutes into counting, TRS gets early lead

8.00 am: Counting begins in Rajasthan.

8.00 am: Counting begins for 40-seat Mizoram Assembly polls.

8.00 am: Counting of the votes begin for the 119-seat Telangana Assembly amid tight security.

8.00 am: Counting of votes begins for the Chhattisgarh Assembly polls, where it’s going to be a prestige battle for three-term Chief Minister Raman Singh of the BJP.

8.00 am: Counting of votes for 230-seat Madhya Pradesh Assembly begins.