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NEW DELHI (AFP) – .

Millions of Indians were to begin voting Thursday in four states seen as barometers of support for the ruling Congress party ahead of a general election due by May next year..

The polls come after a series of shootings and blasts late Wednesday left scores dead in the commercial hub of Mumbai, in a coordinated attack seen as likely to push terrorism even higher up the political agenda..

Kicking off the week of ballots is the central Madhya Pradesh state where India's main opposition, the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), is pitted against the Congress..

Thursday's vote will be followed by polling in the national capital New Delhi on Saturday, northeastern Mizoram state on December 2 and Rajasthan on December 4..

Analysts say that the polls could reveal emerging trends ahead of the general election next year and the performance of the Bahujan Samaj Party will be closely watched..

The BSP claims the support of Dalits, or "untouchables," at the bottom of India's caste-ridden society and success could signal a political sea-change said Mahesh Rangarajan, professor of political science at Delhi University..

Its fiery female chief, Mayawati Kumari, has made no secret of her prime ministerial ambitions..

"No one expects the party to win. But its own calculation is to deny the Congress a third straight win in Delhi and win enough to ensure a hung legislature in Madhya Pradesh," Rangarajan said..

Elections in Chhattisgarh state, currently ruled by the BJP, were held earlier this month..

With 100 million people eligible to vote across the five states, results due on December 8 will give a good indication of what could happen in the general elections..

"These polls are a popularity test for the Congress and the BJP," said Rasheed Kidwai, an analyst and biographer of Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi..

"Many of the states are important ones in India's northern belt.".

The Congress party, which led the campaign for Indian independence 60 years ago, is battling rising inflation and seeking to strengthen the economy amid the global financial crisis..

"High food prices touch the lives of everybody, especially the poor," said Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, another prominent political author..

"It is the poor in India who come out to vote in larger numbers, so this is a major issue for the Congress.".

The BJP, which currently administers Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, besides Chhattisgarh, has hopes of capturing the national capital region, ruled by the Congress for the past decade..

Thakurta noted that incumbency would pose a problem to both the Congress and the BJP as "going by past statistics, roughly 50 percent of legislators don't get re-elected.".

Terrorism has also been an issue flagged in campaigning by the BJP and following the Mumbai attacks will be an even hotter topic..

Even before Wednesday's attacks, a series of blasts across the country had claimed at least 200 lives this year..

Indian police have been probing whether Hindu militants have been involved, but the BJP has cited the probe as an example of the Congress trying to shift blame away from what the BJP said was the party's inability to check militants..

"People in the world know about Jihadi terror, Al-Qaeda terror. No one accepts Hindu terror," BJP chief Lal Krishna Advani told a public meeting in Madhya Pradesh..

"I believe a lot of things said by the government at this time is to cover its failures.".

But senior Congress leader Veerappa Moily dismissed the BJP's remarks..

"The BJP stands exposed. They cannot take a high moral ground that they used to against terrorism.".

With the latest terror attacks in Mumbai, "The BJP's stand seems to be vindicated. The images of the attacks are powerful and the BJP seems to have an edge here," Kidwai said.

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