Madhya Pradesh Assembly election 2018 results as it happened: Congress wins but misses majority mark

Congress secured 114 seats, the BJP trails behind with 109 seats.

After counting which went on for over 25 hours, the Election Commission (EC) on Wednesday morning announced the final results of Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections 2018. The Congress emerged as the single largest party winning 114 seats while the BJP won 109 seats, SP one, BSP two and Independents four seats.

The counting in Madhya Pradesh turned out to be a nail-biting battle in Madhya Pradesh Assembly with the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress taking turns to overtake each other. Several times through the day, the BJP and the Congress hovered around the half-way mark. The Congress emerged victorious in the end but not before caretaker Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan gave him a tough fight throughout the poll process. 

Now, all eyes will be on the Congress to see who will be the next Chief Minister of the state. Party veterans Kamal Nath and Jyotiraditya Scindia are being seen as the strongest contenders for the top post.  (Read full list of winners and MLAs) In the outgoing Assembly, the party-wise position was - BJP-165 seats, Congress-58 seats, BSP- 4 seats and Independents three. 

At a glance: The 25-hour counting in Madhya Pradesh:

# Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Mayawati are likely to hold separate press conferences in the state to clear their stand on the Assembly Election results. Chouhan will brief the media at 10 am, Mayawati at 10:30 am.

# EC declares Madhya Pradesh Assembly results: Congress-114 seats, BJP-109 seats, SP-1 seats, BSP-2 seats and Independents- 4 seats.

## According to latest ECI trends, Congress has won 88 seats and is leading in 26 seats; the BJP has won in 90 seats and is leading on 19 seats.

## According to latest ECI trends, the Congress has won 69 seats and is leading on 44 seats; the BJP has won 66 seats and leading on 44. The BSP and the Samajwadi Party are leading on two seats and one respectively. Three Independent candidates have won while one is leading.

## Battle for Madhya Pradesh continues. Latest ECI trends - Congress wins 67 seats, leads on 47 seats, BJP bags 65 seats and leads on 44. The BSP is leading on two seats while others have won 4 seats.

## As per latest ECI trends/results from Madhya Pradesh, the Congress and the BJP have won 44 seats each. In the remaining, the Congress is leading on 69 while the BJP is leading on 66. The BSP and others are leading on two and five seats respectively.

## Congress leaders AK Antony and Mallikarjun Kharge have been appointed as observers for Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, respectively. 

## It's 8:30 pm, over 12 hours since the counting began, but there is still no clarity on whether it's the Congress or the BJP which is winning the elections.

## West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also viewed the election defeat as a preview to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. "This is the semi-final of the final match as 2019 elections will be held in next 2-3 months. For 2019 final match game is clear, now we are just waiting for the elections. The countdown for 2019 has begun. This is the beginning of the end," she said.

## Opposition parties through the day have been taking jibes at the BJP for its performance in the elections in the five states - Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram. Among those leading the attack were Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav who spoke of Opposition unity. "One and one come together, it makes 11," he said. "Jab ek aur ek milkar bante hai gyaarah, tab badey bado ki satta ho jaati hai nau do gyaarah (when one and one come together, it makes 11, and the power of the bigwigs eventually fade away)," Akhilesh Yadav tweeted.

## According to Election Commission figures, the Congress has crossed the half-way mark in the state and is set to unset the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which has ruled Madhya Pradesh for 15 years. The Congress is leading in 117 seats, BJP in 104 seats, Bahujan Samaj Party in 2 seats, Gondvana Gantantra Party in 1 seat, Samajwadi Party in 2 seats, Independents in 4 seats.

## Through there is no clarity on the numbers in Madhya Pradesh yet, Congress leader Kamal Nath has said his party will form a government in the state with a "full majority" in the 230-member Assembly. "The party will form the government with full majority," he said.

## The first official figures of a win in Madhya Pradesh have gone to the BJP. As per the EC data at 4 pm, the saffron party has won 1 seat, leading in 105 while the Congress is leading in 114 seats.

# Jyotiraditya Scindia, Congress leader and a probable CM candidate if the party wins the state, said that the trends reflect the desire of the people for change. Scindia, who spearheaded the Congress campaign in Madhya Pradesh, said he was very confident that the Congress would form the government in the state.

## According to Election Commission trends, the BJP has lost its balance further. The Congress has taken lead in 113 seats while the BJP is leading in 106 seats.

## After being in the lead for almost an hour, the numbers for the BJP have fallen. As per the official Election Commission website, Congress is now leading in 112 seats while the BJP is leading in 108 seats. 

## The first results have started coming in from MP. BJP's Chetanya Kasyap has bagged 67246 seats while the closest second is Congress's Premlata Dave who has bagged 29722 votes.

## Election results are tilting in the favour of the BJP and the Congress alternatively at the blink of an eye. At 2:15 pm, the BJP is leading in 111 seats while the Congress is leading in 109 seats. 

## The Deotalab seat in Madhya Pradesh is witnessing a neck and neck battle with BJP's Girish Gautam leading against BSP's Seema Jaiveer Singh Sengar by a margin of mere 79 votes.

## If both the BJP and the Congress fail to reach the half-way mark, the Bahujan Samaj Party, Samajwadi Party and Independents will have the bargaining power. The talks of possible alliances have already begun with SP claiming that it will take a decision once the results are declared. "BJP's wrong policies have destroyed the country and this is a result of that. Any talk of an alliance will be done once the whole picture is clear," SP leader Ramgopal Yadav said. As of now, the BSP is leading in 4 seats, SP in 1 seat and others on 5 seats. The BJP is leading in 108 seats while Congress on 112.

## As per the official results from the Election Commission at 1 pm, BJP and Congress are tied at 109 seats each. As per reports, there are at least 7 seats on which the margin between the top two candidates is of less than 500 votes. Meanwhile, Shivraj Singh Chouhan is leading on his seat Budhni by over 19,000 votes.  

## The leaders of the BJP and the Congress will be sitting with their fingers crossed in anticipation as results keep titling in favour of the other every minute. It's the Congress which has maintained its lead for now in 110 seats but BJP is close behind in 108 seats.    

## Now, it's the Congress which is in the lead again! The Congress is leading in 117 seats while the BJP is leading in 102 seats now. The BSP and Others are winning on 5 and 5 seats respectively.  

## The BJP has bounced back: Now, the BJP has crossed the half-way mark in Madhya Pradesh and is leading in 116 seats while the Congress is leading in 105 seats

## As a seesaw battle continues in Madhya Pradesh, Congress president Rahul Gandhi spoke to state Congress Committee president Kamal Nath over a call on Tuesday.

## The excitement in Madhya Pradesh is building as votes in favour of the BJP are increasing yet again. The Congress, which had earlier seemed to have reached the half-way mark as per the trends has taken a step back and is now leading in 113 seats. The BJP is leading in 103 seats while the BSP is leading in 5 and others in 9 seats. 

## Kamal Nath, who is a probable Chief Ministerial candidate of the Congress in Madhya Pradesh, seemed confident as the party edges towards a victory in the Assembly polls. Reacting to the numbers, Nath said: "These are trends, but I am fully confident that we will get full majority."

## Congress reaches half-way mark in Madhya Pradesh: The Congress has reached the magic number of 116 in the 230-member assembly while the BJP is at the second spot with 104 seats.  

## Markets are reacting sharply to BJP's loss in major states. The Sensex is down by over 300 points.  

## At 10:30, the BJP is leading in 112 seats while Congress is ahead in 110. The Bahujan Samaj Party and others leading in 4 seats each.

## In news coming from other states where counting is underway, the TRS has made a clean sweep in Telangana and is leading in 92 seats, Congress has crossed the half-way mark in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh and MNF has taken a decisive lead in Mizoram. Reacting to the poll results coming from all states, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has hoped that the BJP improves its numbers in all states by the time the final results come in.

## Counting in Berasia in Madhya Pradesh has been stopped due to some controversy, an official confirmation about the details are awaited.  

## On 214 of 230 seats, BJP is leading in 108 while the Congress is leading in 106. The half-way mark for any party to form the government in a majority is 116.

## On 208 of 230 seats, BJP is leading in 105 while the Congress is leading in 103. Which party will get the magic figure of 116 will be clear in just a short while from now. Meanwhile, as per the official Election Commission data, website, BJP's Rajyavardhan Singh is leading in Narsinghgarh seat against Congress's Girish Bhandari. In Sihora, BJP's Nandani Maravi is leading against Congress's Khiladi Singh Aarmo.

## The BJP, Congress continue to be on the edge in Madhya Pradesh. At 9:15 am, BJP is leading in 90 seats while Congress is leading in 91 seats.

## Incumbent CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan who is contesting from Budhni is leading against Congress candidate Arun Yadav. Yadav had accused Shivraj of cheating people of his constituency and claimed that he is fighting a "devil". 

## Another key BJP candidate and a scion of the erstwhile royal family Yashodhara Raje Scindia is leading from the Shivpuri seat against Congress leader Siddharth Ladha and Bahujan Samaj Party's Mohammad Irshad Rayeen

## Trends at 9 am from 98 seats shows Congress leading in 50 seats and BJP leading in 48 seats. 

## At 8:50 am, trends from 63 out of 230 seats show the BJP leading in 33 seats while the Congress is ahead in 30.    

## BJP, Congress on a seesaw: The BJP and the Congress locked in a close fight. The early trends revealed an initial lead for the Congress but soon Congress overtook the saffron party to a take slight edge. However, the BJP has taken the lead again. The fight between the two parties in the state is an extremely close one. 

## As per the trends at 8:30 am from 14 seats, BJP is leading in 9 seats while Congress is ahead in 5. The Bahujan Samaj Party and others have not been able to take a lead in any seat so far. 

## Congress has exuded confidence of winning polls in the state. As voting began on Tuesday, the state unit of the Congress wished the people who have supported the party. "Jai Congress, Vijay Congress," the party tweeted. 

Early trends as per the counting of postal ballots are indicating a lead for BJP in 2 seats and Congress in one seat.   

8 am: Counting of votes has begun for Madhya Pradesh Assembly Elections 2018 

## The BJP has fielded candidates on all seats and the Congress on 229 as it left one seat for Sharad Yadav's Loktantrik Janata Dal. The BSP put up 227 candidates while the SP 51. The Aam Aadmi Party, contesting the state election for the first time, fielded candidates on 208 seats. Also testing their electoral fortunes are 1,094 Independent candidates. The state went to polls on November 28 with a voter turnout of about 75 per cent. As many as 2,899 candidates are in fray for 230 seats.

## Fifteen thousand employees have been drafted for the counting process which will be monitored through 1200 CCTV cameras installed at 51 centres across the state. Madhya Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer V L Kantha Rao said the maximum rounds of counting -- 32 in total -- would take place in the Indore-5 assembly segment due to the highest number of booths there. The lowest number of counting rounds (15) would be held in Kotma seat in Anuppur district. 

## The campaign for the polls was a high-decibel one with star campaigners like Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress chief Rahul Gandhi mounting vitriolic attacks in their respective speeches. The prime minister had addressed ten public meetings across all regions of the state while BJP president Amit Shah held 26 public meetings and three road shows.

## Rahul Gandhi, on the other hand, addressed 22 public rallies and took part in about a dozen road shows. State unit Congress president Kamal Nath addressed over 60 public meetings while Jyotiraditya Scindia addressed 110 public meetings and participated in 12 road shows in 15 days preceding polling.