BJP Scripts Miracle Win In Haryana; NC-Cong In J&K

New Delhi: The BJP coasted towards a hat-trick win with its biggest tally in Haryana and the National Conference-Congress combine was set to form government in Jammu and Kashmir, voters in both places giving the victors a decisive edge as counting day progressed with many a surprise on Tuesday.

One state, one union territory and three main stakeholders. Bucking exit poll predictions and pollsters in the first elections after the June Lok Sabha verdict, the results threw up a mixed bag for the BJP, sobering lessons for the Congress but clear-cut unambiguous victory for the NC, which led the alliance to power in Jammu and Kashmir. With leads in 50 of the 90 seats, according to the Election Commission website, Haryana’s ruling BJP readied for a third consecutive term -- after early morning trends showed it trailing behind the Congress.

However, trends showed the saffron party ahead only in 29 of 90 seats in Jammu and Kashmir. If the results were a timely boost for the BJP ahead of elections in Maharashtra later this year, they were a massive downer for the Congress that was hoping to consolidate its gains from the Lok Sabha verdict and began the morning with enthusiastic leaders distributing sweets.

Battling discord in its top leadership in Haryana, where it was expecting to come to power, the Congress had won or was leading in 35 seats in the state, seven more than it got last time but far below the 46 needed to form government. In Jammu and Kashmir, the party piggybacked on the NC to come to power but was ahead only in six of the 32 seats it contested. The party raised with the Election Commission the issue of an “unexplained slowdown” in updating of results of the Haryana election and urged it to direct officials to update accurate figures so “false news and malicious narratives” can be countered immediately. But the writing on the wall was loud and clear. As the vote count in Haryana oscillated between the ruling and the opposition parties with the morning hours delivering a nail biter, the vote share was also tantalisingly close.

Three hours after counting began at 8 am, the BJP was at 38.7 per cent and the Congress a little more at 40.5 per cent. By 3.45 pm, the Congress was down to 39.05 per cent and the BJP had inched ahead at 39.89.

“The Congress will get a majority. Congress will form government in Haryana,” veteran Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda told reporters in Rohtak earlier in the morning. Kumari Selja, his party colleague and a rival for the chief ministerial post had the Congress won Haryana, was also sure her party would emerge

victorious.