Kharge directs in-charges, observers to monitor vote counting in 5 election states

New Delhi: Ahead of the five state assembly election results, All-India Congress Committee (AICC) president Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday directed all five in-charges and observers of the election states to keep an eye on the counting of votes.

A day ahead of the counting of votes for the Telangana assembly polls, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister and senior Congress leader DK Shivakumar is also expected to arrive in Hyderabad on Saturday. While Congress leader Randeep Surjewala is in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.

According to exit poll predictions, the BJP will retain power in Madhya Pradesh by bagging a 47 per cent vote share and 140-162 seats. It said Congress is likely to get 60-90 seats with a 41 per cent vote share. Others are expected to get 12 per cent votes and 0-3 seats.

In Chhattisgarh, three exit polls predicted a clear victory for Congress, others said that the party was in the winning range. The Congress fought the election with Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel at the helm

Meanwhile, in Telangana, exit polls on Thursday predicted that Congress is poised



to form government in Telangana and that the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) would fall short of the majority after its 10-year rule in India's youngest state.

In Rajasthan, the exit polls on Thursday reinforced the perception of a hard contest in the state, with differences in their prediction of the winner in the crucial Hindi heartland state that has a nearly three-decade tradition of not repeating an incumbent government.

The counting of votes for the Mizoram Assembly election has been rescheduled to December 4, the Election Commission announced on Friday.

Earlier, the vote counting for the Mizoram polls was scheduled to be held on December 3.

The poll body said that the date has been revised as several representations were received from various quarters of the state to change the vote counting day.

In elections held on November 7 to the 40-member Mizoram assembly, the Mizo National Front (MNF) faced a challenge from the Zoram People's Movement (ZPM), Congress and BJP.