India is counting its days for crucial assembly polls in five states, which would become the last leg of before the 2024 general elections. Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram, Telangana, and Madhya Pradesh would go for polls in November and the schedule for the elections was released on Monday by the Election Commission of India (ECI). As the parties prepare for the political tug-of-war, an opinion poll has revealed what would become a prelude to the voters' verdict. 

Telangana is a state that's BJP is aiming to triumph to establish its rule in South India after it was completely wiped off from the challenging region following the debacle in Karnataka. In Telangana, there would be a tussle between the trio - ruling BRS (Bharatiya Rashtri Samiti) vs BJP vs Congress. K Chandrasekhar Rao-led BRS championed the formation of Telangana and he is ruling the state for a decade. 

Though BRS rose as a staunch critic of the BJP in Telangana, the party hasn't shown its interest to join the united opposition coalition - INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) as the BRS has been apparently exhibiting its anti-Congress party approach and neither the Congress is taking attempts to bring BRS into the national alliance against the BJP regime. 

In the wake of a strong divide, Telangana would witness a race between these three parties that had poured a major spotlight on the state. While Telangana has been the only, and indeed powerful fortress of the BRS, Chandrasekhar Rao is beefing up the race to retain the reign for the third consecutive time. However, the current trend in Telangana displays that neither the BJP nor the BRS would have a fruitful finish. 

In a major revelation, the opinion poll had suggested that both the BJP and BRS would have a fat chance in forming the government in Telangana with a clear majority. The opinion poll, that was conducted by the ABP-CVoter, had predicted that the Congress party will win between 48 to 60 seats in Telangana and would become the single-largest party in the state. 

As per the data that was published on Monday - October 9, the Congress party would surpass the numbers secured by the BRS. Telangana assembly has 119 seats and the majority mark is 60 seats. While Congress could bag 48 to 60 seats, the opinion poll had shown that the BRS would get between 45-55 seats. The opinion poll has also predicted that while Congress could become the single-largest party in the state, no party would cross the majority mark, hinting that there would a hung assembly. 

According to the opinion poll data, the Congress got 28.3% of the vote share in the 2018 election and it is now predicted that the Congress party's vote share would increase up to 38.8% in the upcoming polls. The opinion poll has also highlighted that the ruling BRS would see its vote share plummeting in five years - in 2018, it was 46.9% and it would come down to 37.5% in the upcoming polls. 

The BJP's vote share is predicted to surge from 7.0% in 2018 to 16.3% in the 2023 polls. In the opinion polls for the other four poll-bound states that were conducted by ABP-CVoter, the BJP is expected to make significant gains in the Rajasthan assembly polls. Rajasthan is currently ruled by the Congress party and it has a slew of political chaos within the Congress party, that would become a token of advantage for the BJP. 

Rajasthan has 200 seats in the assembly and as per the opinion poll, BJP could secure 127 to 137 seats, more than a majority mark and their vote share is predicted to increase to 46% from 38% five years ago. The data had suggested that there would be an uphill battle between the parties in the elections in the BJP-ruling Madhya Pradesh. Out of the 230 assembly seats, Congress party could secure between 113 to 125 seats, while the BJP could win between 104 to 116 seats. While the Congress party is predicted to retain its reign in Chhattisgarh, Mizoram would witness its parties falling short of a clear majority.