Political parties and leaders wait with bated breath as the counting day approaches in Haryana, with the ruling BJP confident of retaining power for a third term, and the Congress, which is out of power for 10 years, more than hopeful of making a comeback when results are announced on Tuesday.
Officials said all preparations, including security arrangements, have been completed for the counting process which begins at 8 am on October 8.
"A three-tier security arrangements have been made at counting venues," Haryana's Chief Electoral Officer Pankaj Agarwal told PTI on Monday.
The elections in Haryana are the first major direct contest between the BJP and the Congress following the Lok Sabha polls, and the result here would be used by the winner to build a narrative in their favour in other states where polls due over the next few months.
The key parties in the fray are the BJP, the Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, INLD-BSP and JJP-Azad Samaj Party. However, most seats are likely to see a direct fight between the BJP and the Congress.
(PTI)
Stringent security arrangements have been put in place at all district headquarters in Jammu and Kashmir for the counting of votes on Tuesday for the 90-member assembly, paving 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 Election Commission.
The first assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir since 2014 was held over three phases with 24 seats going to polls in the first phase on September 18. The second phase of polling was held on September 18 in which 26 seats went to polls while the polling for remaining 40 seats was held on October 1.
Haryana: Several exit polls have predicted a Congress victory in Haryana which recorded a voter turnout of 67.90 per cent.
Jammu and Kashmir: The first ever polls in Jammu and Kashmir after it was made a Union Territory witnessed a voter turnout of 63.45 per cent, less than the 65.52 per cent recorded in the 2014 assembly elections.
Haryana may see Congress comeback after a decade; no clear winner in J&K
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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. Track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.
In an interaction with news agency ANI ahead of counting, Saini said, "BJP has worked a lot for the development of Haryana in the past ten yearss...BJP has worked with honesty for all sections of the society...Our government will continue to work for the development of Haryana and BJP will be forming the government in Haryana for the third time...BJP worked with honesty whereas Congress did a lot of corruption..."
Saini also offered prayers at Shri Dakshin Mukhi Hanuman Temple in the early hours of the day
The counting of votes began on Tuesday for 90 Assembly constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir, the final leg of an electoral journey that will give the union territory its first elected government since the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019.
The counting of votes commenced at 8 am amid a three-tier security cover at 28 centres set up across 20 districts of the union territory, an election official said.
A clear picture of trends is expected by afternoon, the official said.
The Congress-National Conference alliance, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are the main stakeholders in the keenly watched assembly election held five years after the erstwhile state was bifurcated into the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
(PTI)
Security personnel stand guard outside a vote counting centre for J & K Assembly polls, in Srinagar, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024.
Security personnel stand guard outside a vote counting centre for J & K Assembly polls, in Srinagar, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024.
Security personnel stand guard outside a vote counting centre for J & K Assembly polls, in Srinagar, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024.
Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini was leading in Ladwa in Kurukshetra district, while Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda was ahead of his rivals in the Garhi Sampla-Kiloi seat in Rohtak district.
BJP leader Anil Vij was leading from his Ambala Cantt seat. Indian National Lok Dal leader Abhay Singh Chautala was leading from his Ellenabad constituency, according to early trends.
Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala's son Aditya Surjewala was leading from Kaithal seat.
(PTI)
Source: (X/@PTI_News)
Source: PTI via EC
Independent candidate Savitri Jindal is leading from the Hisar assembly seat in Haryana, according to Election Commission trends.
Jindal, who is the mother of BJP's Kurukshetra MP Naveen Jindal, is leading by a margin of 3,836 votes from Congress candidate Ram Niwas Rara. BJP candidate and outgoing MLA Kamal Gupta was at the third spot.
Counting of votes polled in the October 5 assembly elections in Haryana began at 8 am on Tuesday.
(PTI)
Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini and Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda were ahead in their seats. However, INLD leader Abhay Singh Chautala and JJP's Dushyant Chautala were trailing from their seats.
Congress' Vinesh Phogat was trailing from the Julana seat in Jind district where BJP's Yogesh Kumar was ahead by 3,641 votes.
Among the Independents, Savitri Jindal, mother of BJP MP from Kurukshetra Naveen Jindal, was leading from Hisar seat over her nearest rival Ram Niwas Rara of the Congress.
From Ambala Cantt, senior BJP leader and former Minister Anil Vij was trailing to Independent candidate Chitra Sarwara by a margin of 1,199 votes.
(PTI)
Polling agents watch as counting of votes is in progress for Assembly elections at SKICC centre, in Srinagar, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024.
Polling agents watch as counting of votes is in progress for Assembly elections at SKICC centre, in Srinagar, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024.
Counting of votes in progress for Assembly elections at SKICC centre, in Srinagar, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024.
Election officials count votes for the Haryana Assembly elections, at a counting center, in Rohtak, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024.
A written complaint to the Election Commission regarding the delay in showing the results on the official website will be filed in a short while
Slowdown in updating results allows bad faith actors to spin narratives that undermine process: Jairam Ramesh to ECI on Haryana polls
National Conference leader Nazir Ahmad Khan won the Gurez assembly seat for a fourth time in a row, defeating the BJP's Faqeer Mohammad Khan by a margin of 1,132 votes, according to the Election Commission.
Nazir Ahmad Khan has got 8,378 votes while his BJP rival has managed 7,246 votes.
(PTI)
AAP candidate Mehraj Malik is leading in Doda by 4,770 votes with the last round of counting on. This will be AAP's first ever seat in J&K
Congress candidate and former wrestler Vinesh Phogat has won the Julana assembly seat in Haryana. She defeated BJP's Captain Yogesh Bairagi, a former Army officer, and former professional wrestler Kavita Dalal from the Aam Aadmi Party with a margin of more than 6,000 seats.
“Many congratulations to the country's daughter Vinesh Phogat for her victory. This fight was not just for one Julana seat, it was not just with 3-4 other candidates, it was not just a fight between parties. This fight was against the strongest oppressive forces in the country. And Vinesh emerged victorious,” he wrote in a post on X.
Responding to the memorandum filed by Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh, the Election Commission said, "Nothing on record to substantiate your ill-founded allegation of slowdown in updating of Haryana poll results".
Earlier, Congress had raised with the Election Commission the issue of an "unexplained slowdown" in updating of results of Haryana elections on the poll watchdog's website and urged it to direct officials to update accurate figures so that "false news and malicious narratives" can be countered immediately.
In a letter to the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said that over the last two hours between 9 and 11 am there has been an "unexplained slowdown" in updating of results on the ECI's website.
"As you can imagine this allows bad faith actors to spin narratives that undermine the process. You can see examples of it already playing out on social media," Ramesh said in his letter.
(With inputs from PTI)
Former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda alleged that the process had been stopped in many places.
He further said that Congress had won in many places and was leading in others, but the same was not being updated on the Election Commission website. "I request all my colleagues to stay firm, we are getting the majority," he said.
Savitri Jindal, mother of industrialist and Kurukshetra MP Naveen Jindal, has won from the Hisar constituency in the Haryana Assembly elections.
Haryana chief minister Nayab Singh Saini has won from Ladwa assembly seat, defeating Congress's Mewa Singh by 16,120 votes.
A scion of the influential Abdullah clan in Jammu and Kashmir, Omar Abdullah faced a battle of prestige in the Assembly polls in the Union Territory. Securing an impressive victory in Budgam and leading in Ganderbal -- the two seats that he contested -- the third-generation politician is set to become the next Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and carry on his family's legacy.
Just a few months ago, Abdullah, despite his privileged pedigree, endured an embarrassing defeat in the Lok Sabha elections. The Assembly poll, held for the first time since the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019, is perhaps a redemption of sorts for the National Conference leader.
With NC president Farooq Abdullah easing into retirement, many were of the view that this election.
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INLD's Abhay Chautala lost the Ellenabad seat to Congress candidate Bharat Singh Beniwal by a margin of 15,000 votes.
Aizaj Ahmed Guru, brother of Afzal Guru, faced a heavy defeat in the Sopore assembly seat, securing only 129 votes. None of the Above' (NOTA) option has secured 341 votes.
As of Tuesday evening (October 8), trends in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections show the National Conference-Congress alliance is poised to form the government in the Union Territory.
Despite exit polls predicting a hung assembly, the I.N.D.I.A. bloc, led by the National Conference (NC) and Congress, has secured a significant margin ahead of other parties.
The Congress, in partnership with its ally, the National Conference, is set for a comeback. The NC is leading in 42 seats, while Congress is ahead in eight constituencies in the 90-member Jammu and Kashmir Assembly.
For the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the results were bittersweet. The party mounted a spirited challenge but fell short of the numbers needed to form the government. However, the BJP is set to secure the highest vote share in the Union Territory, with an estimated 25.63 per cent, compared to the National Conference’s 23.44 per cent. The BJP performed well in the Jammu region and in districts with a predominantly Hindu population, while the I.N.D.I.A. bloc outperformed in the Kashmir region.
In Haryana, it's a victory of manipulations, subverting will of people and a defeat of transparent, democratic processes: Congress.
Haryana Congress chief Udai Bhan lost from his family seat of Hodal to BJP's Harinder Singh,
Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the BJP's historic third consecutive win in the Haryana as the "victory of politics of development and good governance".
"I assure the people here that we will leave no stone unturned to fulfill their aspirations," he said.
He added: "My heartiest congratulations to all my party workers who have worked tirelessly and with full dedication for this great victory! You have not only served the people of the state to the fullest, but have also taken our agenda of development to them. This is the result of which BJP has got this historic victory in Haryana."
Addressing party workers after BJP's historic third term, PM Modi said, "...'Jaha doodh-dahi ka khana, waisa hai apna Haryana'. The people of Haryana have done wonders. Today is the sixth day of Navratri, the day of Maa Katyayani. Maa Katyayani is sitting on a lion with a lotus in her hand. She is blessing all of us. On such a holy day, lotus has bloomed in Haryana for the third time..."
PM Modi said BJP emerged as the biggest party in J&K in vote share.
Addressing party workers after BJP's historic third term, PM Modi said,"Peaceful elections were held in Jammu and Kashmir, votes were counted and results were declared and this is the victory of the Indian Constitution and democracy. The people of Jammu and Kashmir gave the mandate to the NC alliance, I congratulate them too. If we look at the vote share percentage, BJP has emerged as the biggest party in Jammu and Kashmir..."
Addressing party workers after BJP's historic third term, PM Modi said, "Wherever BJP forms government, the people there support BJP for a long time. And on the other hand, what is the condition of Congress? When was the last time a Congress government came back to power? About 13 years ago in 2011, their government was repeated in Assam and since then their government has not been formed again...In most of the states of the country, people have put up 'no entry' boards for Congress."
Addressing party workers after BJP's historic third term, PM Modi said, "In J&K, its (Congress) allies were already worried that they were suffering losses because of Congress and today's results have shown the same. You must remember that we saw the same thing in the election results as well. In Lok Sabha, half of the seats won by Congress were because of their allies. Apart from this, where the allies trusted Congress, the boat of those allies sank. In many states, the allies of Congress had to bear the brunt of Congress's poor performance. Congress is such a parasitic party that swallows its allies. Congress wants to make such a country where people hate their own heritage, doubt their national institutions, wants to tarnish the image of everything that the countrymen are proud of. Whether it is the country's Election Commission, the country's police, the country's judiciary, Congress wants to tarnish every institution."