Haryana CM Nayab Singh Saini with former CM Manohar Lal Khattar (L) and Congress' Bhupinder Singh Hooda.
Credit: PTI File Photos
Counting of votes for the 2024 Haryana Assembly elections began at 8 am on Tuesday. The 90-member assembly went to polls on October 5 and has more than two crore voters.
Haryana saw a multi-cornered contest with several alliances making and breaking ahead of the polls. The key parties in the fray were the BJP, the Congress, the Aam Aadmi Party, INLD-BSP and JJP-Azad Samaj Party. However, most seats saw a direct fight between the BJP and the Congress.
Track latest updates on Haryana Assembly election results here
Several exit polls had predicted a Congress victory in Haryana which recorded a voter turnout of 67.90 per cent. However, as per ECI trends BJP is headed for a third term in the state.
Here are some key takeaways from the Haryana Assembly polls.
BJP's comeback after Cong's early lead
Congress was looking forward for a comfortable win in the early trends, however, BJP made a surprise comeback, rubbishing the exit poll predictions and crossed the majority mark of 46 seats. According to the Election Commission of India, BJP was leading/has won in 50 seats while Congress was ahead/ has won in 35 seats till 3:30 pm.
Indian National Lok Dal's Arjun Chautala and Aditya Devilal won from Rania and Dabwali seats, respectively. While Chautala won by 4,191 votes, Devilal secured the win by a thin margin of 610 votes.
EC numbers not updating: Congress
The Congress has filed a complaint with the Election Commission of India, claiming that between 9 and 11 am there has been 'unexplained slowdown' in updating of Haryana results on poll body's website.
In his complaint, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh has written that "slowdown in updating results allows bad faith actors to spin narratives that undermine the process. "
Replying to the complaint, the ECI said that there was nothing on record to substantiate his "ill-founded allegation" of slowdown in updating of Haryana poll results.
Key candidates who won
Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, who contested from Ladwa in Kurukshetra, won by a margin of 16,000 votes over his Congress rival and sitting MLA Mewa Singh.
Former chief minster and Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who was seeking a reelection from Garhi Sampla-Kiloi, won by a huge margin of 71,000 votes over the BJP's Manju Hooda.
Congress' Vinesh Phogat, an Olympic wrestler, won over her BJP rival Yogesh Kumar in Julana seat in Jind district by 6,000 votes.
Senior BJP leader Anil Vij is leading by a margin of over 7,000 votes.
Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala's son Aditya Surjewala has won from Kaithal seat by a margin of 8,000 votes against BJP's Leela Ram. Aditya is also the youngest candidate in the Haryana elections.
Independent candidate Savitri Jindal also secured a comfortable win from Hisar seat by more than 18,000 votes.
Key candidates who lost
Panchkua's sitting MLA and BJP leader Gian Chand Gupta lost against INC's Chander Mohan by 1,997 votes.
On the other hand, JJP's Dushyant Chautala had a dissapointing performance in Uchana Kalan and did not even manage to secure a spot in top three. Former deputy CM Chautala finished at fifth position, garnering just 7,920 votes.
Another JJP leader Digvijay Singh Chautala lost in Dabwali constituency.
In Ellenabad, INLS's Abhay Singh Chautala lost to Congress' Bharat Singh Beniwal by 15,000 votes.
What did the exit polls say?
Most of the exit polls for Haryana predicted a Congress comeback. If the grand-old party manages to win the elections, it will return to power in the state after a decade. The predictions also showed a poor show by AAP, INLD-BSP and JJP-ASP (Kanshiram) in the state.
Haryana Assembly poll 2024 results| Check constituency results here
J&K Assembly poll 2024 results| Check constituency results here
Assembly Elections 2024 | In the first assembly polls since the Lok Sabha elections, Narendra Modi and the BJP face a rejuvenated and vindicated Opposition in the Haryana assembly polls. Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir is voting after almost a decade and it remains to be seen how the abrogation of Article 370 has impacted the political landscape of the Valley. Check live updates and track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.
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