The counting of votes for the Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir Assembly General Elections has begun. The BJP is all set for hat-trick in Haryana, whereas the Congress-NC alliance has taken a comfortable lead ahead of the BJP in Jammu and Kashmir, as per trends.
Saini, Hooda, Chautala, Vinesh Phogat’s fate to be decided in Haryana
Amid tight security, the counting of votes for the 90-member Haryana assembly began at 8 am on Tuesday.
The election was held on October 5 in a single phase and the fate of 1031 candidates, including 101 women, was sealed in the Electronic Voting Machines (EVM).
The ruling BJP is seeking a third successive term, and the Congress is aiming to return to power after 10 years.
While both the BJP and the Congress are optimistic of forming the next government in the agrarian state, as per the exit poll predictions, the grand old party is all set to comfortably form a government.
Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, former Chief Minister Bhupendra Singh Hooda, former Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala, and former international wrestler Vinesh Phogat are some of the prominent candidates whose political future will be decided on Tuesday.
Besides, the BJP and the Congress, other parties that have fielded candidates are the Jannayak Janta Party-Azad Samaj Party alliance, the Indian National Lok Dal-Bahujan Samaj Party alliance, and the Aam Aadmi Party.
Political fate of 873 candidates in J&K today
The political fate of 873 candidates, including 43 women, will be decided by the election results.
The counting exercise began at 8 am with postal ballots followed by the counting of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), officials said.
The poll results will mark a significant moment, paving the way for the Union Territory's first elected government since the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019 and the downgrading of the erstwhile state into two Union Territories.
Key political parties in this election include the Congress-and National Conference (NC) alliance, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The NC and Congress contested in alliance, with Congress fielding candidates in 33 seats and NC in 52. The two parties were engaged in a "friendly fight" over five seats, with one seat each given to the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party. Both NC and Congress are part of the Opposition INDIA alliance .
The PDP fielded candidates for all seats, while the BJP contested 62, with 19 candidates in the Kashmir valley. Independents formed the largest group, with 346 candidates running.
In the 2014 Assembly elections, the PDP emerged as the single largest party, winning 28 seats. It later formed a coalition government with the BJP. However, in June 2018, the BJP withdrew its support, leading to the collapse of the coalition and placing Jammu and Kashmir under Central rule.
This is the first assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir in a decade, held in three phases. Voter turnout was recorded at 63.45 percent, slightly lower than the 65.52 percent turnout in the 2014 elections.
The first phase, held on September 18, covered 24 seats; the second phase, on September 25, covered 26 seats; and the third and final phase, on October 1, included the remaining 40 seats. Unlike past elections, which saw incidents of violence, this election was peaceful, with no untoward incidents reported.
Exit polls have indicated that the NC-Congress alliance may have an edge over the BJP in the hung assembly.
