Assembly Elections 2018: Twin states eagerly await 'photo finish' poll results

Amid indications of a hair's breadth margin in the twin states of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, the ruling BJP and challengers Congress are waiting for the verdict of the keenly-contested polls with bated breath.

Exit polls and psephologists say that the verdict for the election — one of the quietest in recent times — is headed for a photo finish favouring either of the two sides.

Long regarded as a Congress backyard, the both the states have been ruled by the BJP since 2003 when incumbent chief minister Raman Singh led the party to victory in Chhattisgarh, and a firebrand Uma Bharati ended a 10-year Congress reign in Madhya Pradesh.

Incumbent Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan assumed power in 2005 after brief stints by Uma Bharati and Babulal Gaur came to an abrupt end. Chouhan led the party to back-to-back victories in 2008 and 2013 while Raman Singh has helmed the government in tribal-dominated Chhattisgarh since 2003.

The decade-and-a-half-long rule of the BJP in these two states resulted in a considerable weakening of the Congress organisation in the region, as the two unassuming CMs maintained a strong impetus on pro-poor initiatives and matched them with huge improvements on the bijli-sadak-paani front to fuel a saffron-surge in the heartland.

But that was then; if exit polls and psephologists be believed, the two states are headed for a photo finish verdict owing to a resurgence of the Grand Old Party which built its campaign around rising anti-incumbency, especially in the agrarian sector.

Adding a fresh dimension to the polls is the rise of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in the region. A phenomenon that analysts say could upset equations in several constituencies.

Buoyed by exit polls and also inputs from the underground Satta Bazaar, both the BJP and Congress have claimed victory in the two states where the ruling party has sought to play down the anti-incumbency factor by attempting to convert the contest into a referendum on the popularity of chief ministers — Chouhan and Singh.

The largely peaceful polls were marred by minor incidents of violence in the Maoist-affected areas of Chhattisgarh while Madhya Pradesh has witnessed the opposition Congress trying to kick up a post-poll controversy over the handling and safety of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).

With only hours to go for the verdict and the main contenders — BJP and Congress — refusing to blink in the ongoing eyeball-to-eyeball contest, analysts suggest that the trends point to a victory for the voter, as it is almost certain that the strength of the Opposition benches, in both Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh Assemblies, will no longer be weak in numbers.