The Congress is emerging a clear winner in Rajasthan with Sachin Pilot as the most popular face for the post of chief minister, according to two opinion polls.
The ABP News-Cvoter opinion poll also showed the Congress winning even Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh being ruled by the BJP for the last 15 years, though with a slender margin of victory than in Rajasthan.
In Rajasthan, which is a switch state alternating the Congress and the BJP to power after five years each, Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje is trailing in popularity to a younger Pilot of the Congress, according to ABP News-Cvoter as well as the C-Fore poll.
The ABP News-CVoter opinion poll has pegged the Congress tally at 142 in the 200-member Assembly, a near reversal of the 2013 result when the BJP had won 163 seats and reduced Congress to 21 seats.
The C-Fore poll has predicted the Congress would win anywhere between 124 and 138 seats with state unit chief Sachin Pilot as the most preferred candidate for the post of chief minister. Pilot leads Raje as the popular choice for the chief minister's post with the support of 36% people polled, according to ABP News-Cvoter. Former chief minister and senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot enjoys the backing of 24%.
The C-Fore poll says Pilot, Gehlot and Raje are the choice of 32%, 27% and 23 % voters respectively.
The 2013 victory for Raje had come at a time when the Modi wave was building up in the country ahead of the 2014 general elections and it was for the first time that the BJP had got a massive mandate in the desert state.
In Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh too, the ABP News-Cvoter poll has predicted a reversal of fortunes for the BJP, a result which could have huge ramifications for the ruling party in the next general elections.
Despite the adverse results projected for BJP in Madhya Pradesh and Chhatisgarh, three-term Chief Ministers Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Raman Singh respectively are still favourites for the top post. In both the states, Congress has not projected chief ministerial faces – in Madhya Pradesh because of problem of plenty and in Chhattisgarh absence of a pan-state face.
The ABP News-Cvoter poll has forecast a slender victory for the Congress in Madhya Pradesh – 122 seats in the 230-member Assembly – and Chhattisgarh – 47 seats in the 90-member Assembly.
The Congress and the BJP have been predicted to poll 42.2% and 41.5% votes in Madhya Pradesh and 38.9% and 38.2% votes in Chhattisgarh respectively.
On Saturday, the Election Commission announced that the Assembly polls in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Rajasthan and Telangana will be held between November 12 and December 7.