New Delhi: Polling for Delhi, Rajasthan, Chattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh Assemblies, projected as a "semi-finals" to next year's Lok Sabha elections, began this morning (Dec 1, 2003) amidst tight security.

Over 5,000 candidates are vying to win the confidence of an estimated nine crore voters in the four States.

The polling began at 8.00 hrs (IST) and would close at 17.00 hrs (IST).

Among those whose fate would be sealed in the electronic voting machines (EVMs) are Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh, Chattisgarh Chief Minister Ajit Jogi, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, besides Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Uma Bharti, Madan Lal Khurana and Vasundhara Raje.

The maximum number of 2,171 candidates are in the fray for the 230-member Madhya Pradesh Assembly, followed by 1,541 for the 200-strong Rajasthan House, 819 for the 90 seats at stake in Chattisgarh and 817 for the 70 constituencies in Delhi.

A tight security umbrella has been thrown over the four States, particularly the naxalite-prone areas of Chattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, with the deployment of four lakh police and para-military personnel.

Rajasthan has the highest number of 4,410 'hyper sensitive' polling stations followed by Chattisgarh (1,580) and Delhi (29).

Madhya Pradesh has the largest number of 11,859 "sensitive" polling stations, followed by Rajasthan (4,529), Chattisgarh (3,399) and Delhi (211).

Over five lakh poll officials have been mobilised for the exercise in over 1.2 lakh polling booths in the four States.

Two MI-8 and four Chetak helicopters have been taken from the Indian Air Force and polling personnel would be ferried to the interior areas of three naxal-infected districts of Bastar, Kanker and Dantewda in Chattisgarh where at least 70 companies of paramilitary forces (approximately 7,000 personnel) would be deployed to install a sense of confidence among the electorate in the wake of the poll boycott call given by the ultras.

Determined to hold "free and fair polls", the Election Commission has positioned a total of 320 observers.

The counting of votes for the four states and two Assembly bypoll seats, one each in Kerala and Gujarat, polling for which will also be held today, would be taken up on December 4 and all results are expected to be declared by the afternoon of the same day.

The poll marks the culmination of an acrimonious fortnight-long campaign focusing among other things on the cash-on-camera scam involving senior BJP leader Dilip Singh Judeo. The BJP based its campaign primarily on the issue of lack of development in the four Congress-ruled states besides occasionally raising pet hindutva issues and Congress President Sonia Gandhi's foreign origin.

Preceded by surveys and opinion polls which mostly predicted return of the Congress, save for Madhya Pradesh, the elections may set off fresh thinking ahead of the Lok Sabha polls among certain parties.

In Rajasthan, BJP is contesting 197 of the 200 seats, leaving three for National Democratic Alliance (NDA) ally Janata Dal-United (JD-U) while in Delhi, it has left four seats for another ally Akali Dal.

Congress is contesting all seats in Madhya Pradesh, except the one it has left for Republican Party of India.

Other NDA allies including Shiv Sena (27 seats) and Trinamool Congress (2) are pitted against BJP in Delhi.

Candidates from Bahujan Samaj party (BSP), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), Samajwadi Party (SP), Communist Party of India (CPI), Social Justice Front and independents are also in the fray.

BJP general secretary Shivraj Singh Chauhan and senior party leader Nand Kumar Sai are contesting against the Chief Ministers of Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh respectively, while business executive turned politician Mahendra Jhabak takes on Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Kirti Azad's wife Poonam Azad challenges the Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit.

Other prominent candidates in the fray are BJP's Vasundhara Raje in Rajasthan, Uma Bharti in Madhya Pradesh and Madan Lal Khurana in Delhi.

PTI