NCP emerges big brother in Maharasthra opposition; Dushyant Chautala's JJP may be kingmaker in Haryana.
The Bharatiya Janata Party and allies took an early lead over the Congress in the Maharashtra and Haryana Assembly polls.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and allies took a decisive lead over the Congress in the Maharashtra Assembly polls as counting progressed on Thursday. But, Haryana looks like a close call.
The BJP and Shiv Sena has crossed the halfway target of 145 in the 288-seat Maharashtra Assembly. The alliance is leading in over 160 seats. The Congress-Nationalist Congress Party combine were ahead in 92, having gained more than 5 since last time. The NCP is emerging the big brother in the alliance.
In Haryana, the BJP's tally has so far fallen short of the magic figure of 45 in the 90-seat Assembly. The Congress has managed 29 so far, up more than 10 seats since last time.
Dushyant Chautala’s Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) is emerging the kingmaker with nearly 10 seats in case there is a hung Assembly. It is learnt the Congress has already reached out to Chautala to form an alliance. The party, which ran a feeble campaign and was wracked by infighting, has done far better than predicted.
A total of 11 exit polls have indicated an emphatic victory for the BJP in both states that it has ruled for the last five years.
In the 288-seat Maharashtra Assembly, the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance has 217 seats while the Congress and the Nationalist congress party have 56. These polls, the BJP contested 150 seats, the Sena 124 and the rest went to smaller parties.
Last term, the two parties had contested the polls separately and none won the majority. They stitched a post-result alliance and had a roller-coaster relationship for the next five years.
This year, the Sena may have been offered less seats than the 50-50 divide it wanted, but it is understood it will occupy the chair of the deputy chief minister to Devendra Fadnavis. That person may be Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray’s son Aaditya, who is the first in the family to jump into electoral politics after his grandfather Bal Thackeray set up the party in 1966.
In Haryana’s 90 seats, exit polls said the BJP could win more than 60 seats, bringing back Manohar Lal Khattar as chief minister again despite his tumultuous reign.
Bypolls are also being held in 51 Assembly seats in 17 states and a Union Territory. Eleven of these seats are in Uttar Pradesh, six seats in Gujarat, Bihar (5 seats), Assam and Punjab (4 seats each), Kerala (5 seats), Sikkim (3 seats), Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu (2 seats each) and one seat each in Arunachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Puducherry, Meghalaya and Telangana.
Two Lok Sabha seats are also in the fray.
Com