MP Election Results 2023: Kamal Nath led the Congress to a surprise win in Madhya Pradesh in 2018 (File).
Bhopal:
Congress leader Kamal Nath on Sunday morning declared himself “very confident” that his party would win the 2023 Madhya Pradesh Assembly election. Speaking to news agency ANI, shortly after counting of votes began with postal ballots, the former Chief Minister said, “I have not seen any trends… don’t need to look till 11 am. I am very confident, I trust the voters…”
A few hours later, though, that confidence appears grossly misplaced with the ruling BJP set to record a dominant win.
At 11.45 am the BJP was ahead in 157 seats – more than double the opposition Congress’ 70. These numbers represent a gain of 48 seats for the BJP and a loss of 44 for the Congress, relative to the 2018 results.
READ | BJP Keeps Madhya Pradesh Despite Odds, Big Congress Disappointment
In his individual race, Kamal Nath was leading from his family bastion of Chhindwara.
READ | Congratulatory Poster Up, But Kamal Nath Trails In His Own Seat
Shortly before votes were counted, there was even a poster congratulating Kamal Nath on becoming Chief Minister. The poster – “Congratulations to honourable Kamal Nath for becoming Chief Minister” – was seen outside the Congress’ office.
READ | “Congratulations”: Poster Hails Kamal Nath As Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister
On Thursday too Kamal Nath played down the exit polls. In a post on X, he said, “I want to remind all Congress workers of their strength… it is because of your hard work and dedication the public has voted overwhelmingly in support of the Congress Party. When the counting of votes begins on December 3, the public will put a stamp on the Congress government.”
READ | “Country Runs By Vision, Not Television”: Kamal Nath After Exit Polls
However, Shivraj Chouhan remained confident the BJP would return to power and form the state government for a fifth time.
This morning, as the early trends emerged, he said the party would retain power with a commanding majority.
“… I am confident that with the blessings of the people and the able leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the BJP will form government again with a full majority,” Mr Chouhan said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
READ | Full Majority In Madhya Pradesh With PM’s Blessing: Shivraj Chouhan
The BJP will now almost certainly retain Madhya Pradesh – a state it has dominated since 2003; the party has won three of the past four polls, with the blip being the Congress’ 2018 win that was orchestrated by Kamal Nath.
Four of nine exit polls gave it a distinct edge and three gave it over 139 seats.
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