New Delhi: As results of the two assembly elections poured in, Haryana surged ahead of Maharashtra in proving to be an exciting electoral contest, with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) struggling to reach the halfway mark in the face of an unexpectedly resurgent Congress. In Maharashtra, meanwhile, the Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis-led BJP is all set to form the government for a second straight term, along with ally Shiv Sena.
Trends available with News18 at 3.25pm showed Haryana headed for an uncertain finish with BJP at 39 of the 90 seats, Congress at 30 and debutant Jannayak Janata Party springing a surprise with 11 seats.
This is a significant drop for the BJP from its 2014 tally of 47, and an even more embarrassing slide from the 2019 Lok Sabha polls where the party won all 10 seats in the state. The results are particularly surprising given the bitter factionalism in the Congress that preceded the polls and a very weak central leadership. For the BJP, the results pose a question over M.L. Khattar’s shaky five-year term and underscore how it is unsustainable for it to try and win each poll in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s name.
In Maharashtra, the BJP-Sena combine seems set to form the government with the current figures at 166 of 288 seats — a drop from its 2014 numbers but comfortably past the halfway mark. The Congress with allies is at 96, but the most interesting aspect is how it has been left behind by ally Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
While the Congress is ahead in 39 seats, the NCP is leading in 52. The disruption in balance of power was evident even in the BJP-Sena alliance, with the former’s tally dropping from 122 to 105, but its ally managing to stay close to its 2014 figure. The two, however, had fought the last assembly polls separately.
Also read: Manohar Lal Khattar — the BJP dark horse who cost the party its Haryana edge