The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has retained its lead in three states — Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. The next big question is over the contenders for the chief minister’s post in all three states. The party had not projected any CM faces ahead of the polls.
In Rajasthan, speculation is abuzz whether Vasundhara Raje will return as the chief minister for the third time. In Chhattisgarh, many in the party believe ex-CM Raman Singh enjoys the confidence of the central leadership. In Madhya Pradesh, the BJP has taken a massive lead despite the purported “fatigue factor” against the state’s longest-serving chief minister, Shivraj Singh Chouhan. If the party wins, it will find it hard to dismiss the claim of incumbent four-time CM.
The Congress, meanwhile, has managed to retain a lead only in Telangana, where it is ahead of the BRS, foiling chief minister K Chandrashekhar Rao’s bid for a hat-trick. State party president A Revanth Reddy looks poised to take over the reins. The BJP’s lead in Rajasthan comes as a setback for Ashok Gehlot, who was looking to buck the anti-incumbency trend. Stay tuned as The Indian Express’s political editors and reporters decode the election results and provide an insight into the trends and numbers.
