New Delhi, Nov 9: With election campaign in full swing in five poll-bound states, an opinion poll by C-Voter has projected a thumping majority for the Congress with 145 seats in Rajasthan and a simple majority in Madhya Pradesh.

The Center For Voting Opinions and Trends in Election Research (C-Voter), in its November (week 2) poll has also projected a clear majority of 64 seats to the Congress-TDP combine in Telangana and a very close fight in Chhattisgarh with a slender edge for the BJP.

Polls in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Rajasthan and Telangana will be held between November 12 and December 7. Counting of votes will be taken up together in all the five states on December 11.

The survey in Rajasthan gave the ruling BJP only 45 seats with 39.7 per cent vote share, against 47.9 per cent of the opposition Congress.

In Madhya Pradesh, the C-Voter poll projections gave the BJP 107 seats with a vote share of 41.5 per cent, against Congress' vote share of 42.3 per cent and a simple majority of 116 seats.

The opinion poll did not give a clear majority to any party in Mizoram, with the Mizo National Front projected to lead with 17 seats, followed by the Congress with 12 seats and Zoram People's Movement (ZPM) with nine seats.

Predicting a close fight in Chhattisgarh, C-Voter poll survey gave 41 seats to the Congress with a 42.2 per cent vote share, with six seats to others and 16.2 per cent vote share. The BJP is projected to get a slightly lower 41.6 per cent vote share and 43 seats.

The poll survey of November week-2 done for ABP News and Republic TV has a total sample size of 67,848 for five states, with 13,377 in Rajasthan, 25,745 in Madhya Pradesh and 13,911 in Chhattisgarh, 13,624 in Telangana and 1191 in Mizoram.

In contrast, C-Voter has claimed that the CNX poll survey for Times Now and India TV in Rajasthan has projected 115 seats for Congress against 75 to BJP, while CSDS survey for ABP has projected 110 to Congress and 84 to BJP and Cfore poll survey for Asianet giving 130 to Congress and 65 to BJP.

For Madhya Pradesh, the agency has claimed the CNX poll survey projected 122 seats for the BJP and 95 for the Congress, with CSDS giving 116 to the saffron party and 105 to the Congress.

In Chhattisgarh, the CNX poll survey has projected that the BJP could get 50 and Congress 30 seats, with others getting 10 seats, while the CSDS poll gave 56 to the BJP, 25 to the Congress and nine to others.

Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said while the C-Voter survey is heartening and interesting, the situation on the ground is that the party is winning in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and also in Telangana in a resounding manner.

"We hope to cross the two-third mark in Rajasthan and hope to get close to 140 seats in Madhya Pradesh and over 50-mark in Chhattisgarh. The coalition of Congress will romp home confidently, trouncing the BJP stooge TRS in Telangana. Congress will also retain Mizoram," he told PTI.

BJP spokesperson Bizay Sonkar Shastri rejecting the opinion polls, which gave Congress an edge in some poll-bound states, asserted that his party will not only form governments in the three states ruled by it, but also be a part of the ruling dispensation in Telangana and Mizoram.

He said the BJP is heading for a "big victory" in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, and that the campaign by "our magic man", a reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will give further boost to the party's prospects.

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Patna (PTI): Former Bihar minister Tej Pratap Yadav, who was recently expelled from the RJD by his father and founding president Lalu Prasad, has announced that he would contest the upcoming Bihar assembly elections from Mahua seat in Vaishali district as an Independent candidate.

He is currently the MLA of Hasanpur seat in Samastipur district.

Speaking to reporters at his residence here on Saturday evening, he said, "Yes, this time, I will contest the elections from Mahua assembly seat as an Independent candidate. My opponents must have started to feel an itch."

"I have people's support... a large number of people are now connected with my 'Team Tej Pratap Yadav', a social media platform to reach out to people," he added.

He further claimed that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar would not retain his post after the assembly polls.

"I am confident that 'chacha' (Nitish) will not become the CM... those who would form the government, if they talk about youths, employment, education, and health, Tej Pratap Yadav will stand with them," he said.

The former Bihar minister was expelled from the party on May 25 by his father Lalu Prasad for six years.

He was expelled a day after he reportedly confessed on social media to being "in a relationship" with a woman named Anushka.

He, however, later deleted the Facebook post with a claim that his page was "hacked". Lalu Prasad also disowned Tej Pratap due to his "irresponsible behaviour".

A few days after his expulsion from the party, Tej Pratap had alleged that there was a "conspiracy" to drive a wedge between him and his younger brother Tejashwi Yadav.

He had voiced his sentiments in a couple of posts on his X handle, blaming the crisis on 'Jaichand', a metaphor for traitors.

His expulsion came barely a few months ahead of the Bihar assembly polls, which the RJD will fight under the leadership of Tejashwi Yadav. Born to Prasad and Rabri Devi, both former chief ministers of Bihar, the two brothers are among four of nine siblings active in politics.

Tej Pratap Yadav had made his political debut in the assembly polls of 2015, and is a second-term MLA with two brief stints in the state cabinet.