Counting of votes began in the four of the five states voted for the assembly elections, namely Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Telangana, amid tight security at 8 am on Sunday.

Counting in Mizoram, which also had gone to polls along with these four states last month, will be held on Monday.

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During the day, counting will be carried out for 230 seats in Madhya Pradesh, 90 seats in Chhattisgarh, 119 in Telangana and 199 seats in Rajasthan. Polling for one seat in Rajasthan had to be pushed back following the death of a Congress candidate.

The outcome of the Assembly elections in the four states is expected to reflect the possible scenario to be seen in the Lok Sabha elections 2024.

Of the five states that have gone to polls this month Telangana was the last to go to polls on Thursday. Counting began in the state amid tight security. At stake is the political future of three major parties here, namely the Congress, the BJP and the ruling BRS.

Exit polls predicted that Congress is poised to form a government in Telangana and that the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) would fall short of majority after its 10-year rule in India’s youngest state.

In Rajasthan, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot (Sardarpura), former chief minister Vasundhara Raje (Jhalrapatan), former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot (Tonk), state PCC chief Govind Singh Dotasra (Lachhmangarh), RLP convenor Hanuman Beniwal (Khinvsar) are some of the key faces among the 1,862 candidates in the fray.

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 in the state, while BSP and SP won 2 and 1 seat(s) respectively.

The four main contenders in the Chhattisgarh are the BJP, Congress, Janta Congress Chhattisgarh (JCC) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). Other regional outfits like the Gondwana Gantantra Party (GGP), Hamar Raj Party (HRP) and the Left parties are also in the contest.

The exit polls, which were broadcast at the end of polling in Telangana on November 30, Thursday, threw up varied numbers for the five states, giving an edge to the BJP in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan while putting Congress in a clear lead in Telangana and Chhattisgarh.

While the exit polls were almost unanimous in giving an edge to the Congress in Telangana, a few predicted a close contest in Rajasthan, giving the Congress a slender lead.

According to one exit-poll projection, the Congress was ahead in the race for the hustings in Madhya Pradesh as well.