Madhya Pradesh election result 2019: BJP hopes to turn the tide after losing assembly polls

Months after Madhya Pradesh gave the BJP a bad scare in the assembly polls, it's the moment of truth for the National Democratic Alliance with the Lok Sabha election results to be announced today. The BJP is hopeful of a strong performance, while the Congress may be in for a shock. As per the India Today-Axis My India Exit Poll, the NDA leaders were expected to bag 26 to 28 Lok Sabha seats out of a total 29 seats in the state while Congress-led UPA was predicted to get only one to three seats.

Congress, on the other hand, may end up with up to 3 seats only, including Chhindwara, which has been Chief Minister Kamal Nath's stronghold since 1980. This time round, Nath had vacated this seat for his son Nakul, who is fighting against BJP's Nathansala Kawreti and BSP's Gyaneshwar Gajbhiya.

Polling in Madhya Pradesh was held across the last four phases of the seven-phase elections. Significantly, spurred along by a surge in female voters, the state posted a record 71.20 per cent voter turnout, up 9.53 per cent from the 2014. The national average of polling reportedly stood at 67.5 per cent.

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With this massive victory, the BJP in Madhya Pradesh will now be bracing for a floor test of the Kamal Nath-led government. In the 2018 state assembly elections, the Congress had cornered 214 seats in a 230-member house. Since the Grand Old Party fell short of magic figure by two seats, Nath had managed to cobble together the government with the help of the Bahujan Samaj Party that won two seats, the Samajwadi Party that won one seat and four independents.

Leader of the Opposition in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly, Gopal Bhargava, now plans to seek an early session of the state Vidhan Sabha, claiming the Congress-led government could fall because of its inherent contradictions.

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