MIDNIGHT LIMBO IN MP

A see-saw battle kept politicians and common man glued to the idiot box as a resurgent Congress was locked all day in a cliff-hanger with the BJP. There seemed to be something amiss in the counting with all the results not trickling in even until midnight. Normally, Assembly election results are out by 4 - 5 pm.

As of 11.40 pm, the Congress was leading in 114 seats, as against the BJP, which was ahead in 108. The election commission, however, said that counting was still on in a few rounds and the formal declaration will be done by midnight.

CLIFFHANGER

The Congress, assured of support by the BSP and a few independents, has written to the governor and sought an immediate meeting to stake claim. But Governor Anandiben office said that an appointment will be given only after the Election Commission clears the haze. The matters were still in a limbo at midnight, when media reports trickled in.

One reason for the see-saw battle was the wafer-thin margins, at some places as slender as 500 votes. Nonetheless, the Congress seemed to be on the threshold of the half-way mark. Any party will require at least 116 seats in the 230-member assembly to form the government.

Seeing the writing on the wall,

BSP leader Sudheendra Bhadoria lost no time in saying that the party would lend support to the Congress in government formation.

In MP, many sitting MLAs, irrespective of the party, lost, while a

few managed to keep their prestige intact by winning, albeit through a wafer thin margin. Throughout the counting, the BJP was busy playing catch up with the Congress.

The reverses for the BJP in the Hindi heartland have thrown wide open the 2019 Lok Sabha elections which until a few months ago appeared to be in the grip of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party.

With Congress set to form governments in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan and locked in a close fight in Madhya Pradesh, Rahul Gandhi said selection of chief ministers in the three states will be done "smoothly".