The verdict of Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections will be out on Tuesday, October 8, after weeks of campaigning by top parties and four phases of polling - three for J&K and one for Haryana - which sealed the fates of contenders.
Voting for the elections to the 90-seat Jammu and Kashmir Assembly took place in three phases on September 18, September 25 and October 1 while polling for all the 90 seats of Haryana Assembly happened on October 5. Counting of votes for both Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir is taking place on Tuesday, October 8.
The verdict of Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections will be out on Tuesday, October 8, after weeks of campaigning by top parties and four phases of polling - three for J&K and one for Haryana - which sealed the fates of contenders.
Voting for the elections to 90-seat Jammu and Kashmir Assembly took place in three phases on September 18, September 25 and October 1 while polling for all the 90 seats of Haryana Assembly happened on October 5.
Haryana Polling Percentage: Haryana recorded a voter turnout of 67.90 per cent with Ellenabad assembly seat in Sirsa district witnessing the highest polling percentage at over 80 per cent, according to the updated figures of the Election Commission. In the 2019 assembly polls, the state had recorded 68.31 per cent turnout while in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections for 10 seats, the percentage was 64.8.
Key Candidates In Haryana: In Haryana, a total 1,031 candidates were in the fray, of which 101 were women. Prominent among those contesting Haryana Assembly poll 2024 were: BJP leader and Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini (Ladwa seat), Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda (Garhi Sampla-Kiloi seat), Congress's Vinesh Phogat (Julana), INLD's Abhay Singh Chautala (Ellenabad seat), JJP's Dushyant Chautala (Uchana Kalan seat), BJP's Anil Vij (Ambala Cantt seat) and OP Dhankar (Badli seat), and AAP's Anurag Dhanda (Kalayat). Among the independent candidates include India's richest woman, the chairman emeritus of the OP Jindal Group, Savitri Jindal (Hisar seat), Ranjit Chautala (Rania seat) and Chitra Sarwara (Ambala Cantt seat).
Congress's Haryana CM Candidate Reaches Delhi: Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda, a frontrunner for the chief minister's post, on Sunday left for Delhi, likely to meet party leadership ahead of the poll results. Sources cited in a news agency PTI report said Hooda was likely to meet the party's senior leadership before he returns to his Rohtak residence Monday afternoon. Asked who would be the chief minister if the Congress comes to power, Hooda had Saturday reiterated that there is a laid down procedure in the party, according to which "the opinion of the MLAs will be sought and the high command will decide".
Security Upped In J&K Ahead Of Counting: In Jammu and Kashmir, where Assembly elections took place for the first time since 2014, stringent security measures have been taken for the counting of votes and results on October 8, which will pave way for first elected government in the Union Territory following the abrogation of Article 370 five years ago. A three-tier security set up has been put in place at all the 20 counting centres across Jammu and Kashmir where the votes will be counted on Tuesday, said an official of the EC.
Will Rivals NC, PDP Tie Up If Needed? Ahead of counting of votes, National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Monday said his party was open to the idea of taking support of rival Mehbooba Mufti's PDP to form government in the Union territory. Jammu and Kashmir Congress chief Tariq Hamid Karra had said on Sunday the NC-Congress alliance will get a “comfortable majority” in the assembly elections, and added that the doors are open for like-minded parties and individuals to keep the BJP out of power.
J&K Exit Polls: The exit polls, which came out on Saturday, have predicted pole position for the National Conference-Congress alliance, with the regional party getting the lion's share of the seats. As per pollsters, the BJP is expected to slightly improve on its tally of 25 seats which it had won in the 2014 assembly polls while the PDP, which had won 28 seats in the polls held 10 years ago, is predicted to win less than 10 seats this time.
Haryana Exit Polls: In Haryana, exit polls predict a return of Congress, which is expected to bag around 55 of the 90 seats alone. The BJP has been in power in Haryana since 2014 with Manohar Lal Khattar as chief minister for over nine years. The BJP's second term in office in 2019 was in alliance with the JJP, with Dushyant Singh Chautala as deputy chief minister.