Counting of votes in Haryana and J&K today

CHANDIGARH / JAMMU: All eyes are on Haryana and the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir as the counting of votes in the just concluded Assembly elections will be taken up on Tuesday.

While the ruling BJP in Haryana, facing anti-incumbency sentiments, is sounding confident of scoring a hat-trick of retaining power, the main challenger Congress is hopeful of making a comeback in the politically important northern state. The BJP has been ruling Haryana for the past decade and the Congress has remained out of power in the state.

In Jammu and Kashmir multi-corner contests were witnessed in the three-phase elections with the main parties being the Congress-National Conference combine, PDP of Mehbooba Mufti and the BJP which is hopeful of making its presence felt in a significant manner in the border territory.

Exit polls have predicted a victory for the Congress in Haryana which recorded a voter turnout of 67.90 per cent, they have given INDIA bloc an edge in Jammu and Kashmir.

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 arrangement has been made at counting venues,” Haryana’s Chief Electoral Officer Pankaj Agarwal said on Monday. The elections in Haryana are the first major direct contest between the BJP and the Congress following the Lok Sabha polls.

Any of the two who emerges victorious will try and build a narrative in its favour as assembly polls are just a few months away in Delhi, Jharkhand and Maharashtra.

The key parties in the fray in Haryana 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.

A total of 1,031 candidates, including 464 Independents and 101 women, are in the fray on Haryana’s 90 constituencies which voted in single phase on October 5.

Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini while rejecting the exit poll predictions has claimed his party BJP will form the government for a third time with full majority. He said when results are announced on October 8 Congress will blame Electronic Voting Machines.

On the other hand, Congress leader and former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, a frontrunner for the chief minister’s post if his party wins, exuded confidence of a comfortable majority.

On BJP leaders claiming that their party will return to power, Hooda had earlier stated: “What else will BJP say? They will come to know once results are out.”

The INLD-BSP alliance has also claimed that it will form the next government once results are declared, while JJP leader Dushyant Chautala has exuded confidence that his alliance will get good numbers.

Aam Aadmi Party supremo Arvind Kejriwal, whose party contested Haryana polls on its own, has been claiming that no government in Haryana can be formed without the support of his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

The ruling BJP has been saying that its return to office will be powered by its record on good governance, transparent administration, equitable development, jobs on merit, welfare initiatives for all sections including farmers, the poor and the weak.

However, Congress and other opposition parties have dubbed the BJP government a failure, and targeted it on issues related to farmers, unemployment, Agniveer, inflation, law and order, and others.

Prominent among those in the fray are Chief Minister Saini (Ladwa), Leader of Opposition Hooda (Garhi Sampla-Kiloi), INLD’s Abhay Chautala (Ellenabad), JJP’s Dushyant Chautala (Uchana Kalan), BJP’s Anil Vij (Ambala Cantt), Capt Abhimanyu (Narnaund), O P Dhankar (Badli), AAP’s Anurag Dhanda (Kalayat) and Congress’ Vinesh Phogat (Julana).

From Tosham seat, former MP Shruti Choudhry of BJP and Anirudh Chaudhary, both cousins, are contesting.

From Dabwali, Devi Lal’s grandson Aditya Devi Lal, an INLD candidate, is taking on JJP’s Digvijay Singh Chautala, great grandson of the former deputy prime minister.

The BJP has fielded former chief minister late Bhajan Lal’s grandson Bhavya Bishnoi from the Adampur segment of Hisar while its nominee from Ateli in Mahendragarh is Arti Rao, whose father Rao Inderjit Singh is a Union minister.

Among the Independents are Savitri Jindal (Hisar), Ranjit Chautala (Rania) and Chitra Sarwara (Ambala Cantt).

Taking on Dushyant from Uchana is Congress’ Brijendra Singh, son of former Union minister Birender Singh. A few rebels from both Congress and BJP have also entered the fray.

In the outgoing Assembly, the strength of ruling BJP is 41 (including the Adampur seat won in 2022 bypoll), the Congress has 28 MLAs, the JJP (6), while Haryana Lokhit Party and Indian National Lok Dal have one member each. There are four Independents, while nine seats are vacant.

In 2019, the BJP formed the government with the support of JJP while most Independents had also extended support. However, JJP’s post-poll tie-up with the BJP ended after the saffron party replaced Manohar Lal Khattar with Nayab Singh Saini as chief minister in March this year.

Meanwhile, In the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly, top leaders of the Congress-NC alliance, the BJP and the PDP have expressed confidence in forming the next government in the Union Territory.

While the Congress and the National Conference, who formed a pre-poll alliance, claimed they would cross the magical figure of 46 in the 90-member House on their own, the BJP was relying on independent candidates and the PDP said no secular government was possible in Jammu and Kashmir without its support.

Jammu and Kashmir BJP chief Ravinder Raina said his party would emerge as the single largest, securing 35 seats. With the help of independents and like-minded groups, the BJP would cross the majority mark, he said.

“We are confident of winning 35 seats in Jammu and Kashmir and with the support of independents and like-minded groups, who will secure around 15 seats, we will surpass the majority mark,” Raina told reporters.

“The people have voted for us, endorsing our vision for development and peace,” he added. Raina emphasised the “strong public support” for the BJP, citing the “large crowds” at the rallies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. He predicted a “crushing” defeat for the Congress.

However, Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) chief Tariq Hameed Karra said the party’s alliance with the NC had the edge.

“People have voted for the NC-Congress alliance as we expected. We are confident of forming the government in Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.

The NC echoed the same sentiment. Its provincial president for the Jammu region Rattan Lal Gupta said the NC-Congress alliance will form the next government, regardless of exit poll predictions.

“Most exit polls have given a clear mandate to the NC-Congress alliance with over 53 seats. The alliance is expected to win 20 to 24 seats in the Jammu region,” Gupta said.

Meanwhile, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti has asserted that the next government in Jammu and Kashmir will be secular and not without her party’s support.

“The government will be secular… without the PDP’s support, no government will be formed in Jammu and Kashmir. There will never be a BJP government in the region,” she asserted.With agency inputs