Assembly polls: Counting of votes begins in Mizoram, Telangana

Amid heightened security, the counting of votes for the Assembly elections in the states of Mizoram and Telangana has begun.

In Mizoram that went to polls on November 28, there are 40 Assembly constituencies spread across eight districts, out of which 39 seats are reserved for scheduled tribes, while one seat is for general category people.

The state saw a voter turnout of about 80 per cent. As many as 7,70,395 lakh voters were eligible to cast their vote in the state including 3.75 lakh males and 3.95 lakh females.

The Congress party, which has been in power in Mizoram since 2008, is eyeing a third consecutive term in the state.

In the previous election in 2013, Congress had fielded 40 candidates while it won 34 seats, whereas Mizo National Front (MNF) secured only five seats after contesting 31 seats. Mizoram People's Conference (MPC) had contested on eight seats but it managed to bag only one.

Both Congress and MNF are contesting all 40 constituencies this time, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is fighting in 39 seats.

It is to be noted that Mizoram is the last northeastern bastion for the Congress.

Though the exit polls indicated that the MNF will emerge as the single largest party in the 40-member Assembly, it may still not be able to cross the halfway mark to form majority. There are strong indications for a hung Assembly, for the first time ever since the state was formed in 1987.

Times Now-CNX has predicted 18 seats for MNF, 16 for the Congress and 6 for others. Similarly, India-Today-My India Exit Polls have predicted 16-22 seats for MNF, 8-12 for Congress and Zoram Nationalist Party (ZNP) alliance and 1-4 for others. The majority mark is 21.

The BJP in the state, according to the exit polls, will not make any dent to the big players in the northeastern state.

Coming to Telangana, the country's youngest state that went to polls on December 7, there are 119 seats are up for grabs.

The major players in the southern state are the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS), All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen (AIMIM), BJP and a grand alliance called 'Praja Kutami', that comprises Congress, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), the Telangana Jana Samithi (TJS) and the Communist Party of India (CPI).

A total of 1,821 candidates were in the fray for the Assembly elections in Telangana. The state recorded a voter turnout of over 73 per cent.

The ruling TRS is confident of winning the polls. While the Congress-led alliance, on the one hand, is aiming to dethrone the TRS, the BJP, on the other hand, is striving to make inroads in the southern state.

As far as the exit polls are concerned, most of them have given a clean sweep to incumbent K. Chandrashekhar Rao-led TRS government.

Times Now-CNX projected a clean sweep for TRS with 66 seats and gave 37 to Congress, 7 to BJP and 9 to others. Republic TV-Jan Ki Baat gave TRS 50-65 seats, 38-52 to Congress, 4-7 to BJP and 8-14 to others. The majority mark is 60.

Elaborate security arrangements have been made for counting of votes that will be done under tight vigil and CCTV camera surveillance.