High five: Will high voltage political campaigns bear fruit on 11 December?
High five
BCCL
Madhya Pradesh
Voter Turnout: 75.05%
Past Results (2013): BJP: 165; Congress: 58; Others: 7
-Congress’ soft-Hindutva pitch largely neutralised BJP’s attempts to polarise voters in its favour.
-Unlike in the past, Congress leaders, including Kamal Nath and Jyotiraditya Scindia, put up a united front this time.
-BJP’s campaigns revolved around Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and his welfare schemes.
BCCL
Telangana
Voter Turnout: 70%
Past Results (2013): TRS: 63; Congress: 21; NDA (TDP +BJP): 15; Others: 20
-The election is largely Chief Minister KCR versus all. The opposition parties — Congress, TDS, CPI and TJS — have formed a pre-poll alliance named Prajakutami (people’s alliance)
-BJP, which is not a key player in the state, mainly wants to expand its footprint, keeping in mind the big battle of 2019
-TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu’s overenthusiasm in this election is to create an anti-BJP front for the forthcoming Lok Sabha poll
BCCL
Rajasthan
Voter Turnout: 74%
Past Results (2013): BJP: 163; Congress: 21; Others: 16
-CM Vasundhara Raje and the BJP central leadership were not on the same page initially, but the RSS came to Raje’s rescue as the campaign progressed.
-BJP president Amit Shah gave all his energy in the last leg of campaign in Rajasthan; PM Modi held 13 rallies, three more than what was planned initially.
-Congress strategy was based on caste equations and projecting two leaders as potential CM candidate.
BCCL
Chhattisgarh
Voter Turnout: 76.6%
Past Results (2013): BJP: 49; Congress: 39; Others: 2
-The only state in this round of assembly elections where polling was held in two phases mainly due to the Naxal presence in Bastar area.
-Raman Singh, the longest-serving chief minister from BJP, hopes that anti-incumbency votes will split due to the emergence of the Ajit Jogi-Mayawati combine and would help his party win for the fourth time in a row.
-Congress, which secured 0.75% votes less than BJP in 2013, is expecting to cross the halfway mark this time.
BCCL
Mizoram
Voter Turnout: 80.5%
Past Results (2013): Congress 34; MNF: 5; BJP: 0; Others: 1
-The only state in the Northeast being ruled by the Congress now.
-BJP fought the poll on its own, but its main aim is to somehow dislodge the Congress and be a minor partner in an MNF-led coalition government.
-Congress witnessed unprecedented factionalism before the poll, leading to two ministers and the assembly Speaker deserting the party at the last minute.
PTI
