NEW DELHI, Nov 30: Millions of Indians will vote on Monday to elect four new state assemblies in balloting seen as a litmus test of popularity for India’s ruling Hindu nationalists ahead of general elections in 2004.

Some 94 million adults are eligible to vote in the states of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and New Delhi, where the main contestants are the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the opposition Congress party.

In the fray are 5,348 candidates vying to fill a total of 590 seats — an average nine contesting each post — in the four states where more than two dozen political parties will also test their own popularity.

Some 70 percent of 500,000 voters exercised their franchise in November 20 elections in the northeastern state of Mizoram but results for that vote and those on Monday will only be released after vote counting ends on December 4.

India’s Election Commission, watching for fraud and political malpractice, said 20,000 federal troops would back thousands of state police personnel during the voting.

“We are (also) holding forces in reserve for the four states,” the Central Reserve Police Force paramilitary unit said.

Eunuchs, a former bandit, street hawkers and maharajahs are among the hopefuls, with the Congress and the BJP fielding the maximum number of candidates for the four states, all last held by the Congress.

The two political adversaries are also proposing three female candidates for the top jobs in the states amid protests that the number of women in Indian politics remains abysmally low.

The BJP is putting forward former princess Vasundhra Raje Scindia in Rajasthan and Hindu nun Uma Bharati in Madhya Pradesh for the chief minister posts. Both are challenging male incumbents.—AFP