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.

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