BJP chief Amit Shah today gave his "thanks" to the people of Haryana for ensuring the BJP remained the single-largest party in the northern state.
"The (Manohar Lal) Khattar government in Haryana has made every effort for people's welfare under the leadership of (Narendra) Modi. I thank people for making the BJP the single-largest party and giving it another opportunity to serve them," Mr Shah tweeted, hours after summoning the chief minister when early trends indicated the Congress might pick up speed.
The BJP is leading on 40 seats in the 90-member Haryana assembly, where the majority mark is at 46. The Congress is leading on 31 seats. Jat leader Dushyant Chautala's Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) could emerge as a possible kingmaker.
Mr Khattar will meet the Governor Satyadev Narayan Arya today to stake claim to form government in the state, sources have said.
The BJP is also set to form government in Maharashtra along with its ally cantankerous ally Shiv Sena. The Sena, buoyed by a hugely improved performance, is talking of a 50:50 division of cabinet berths and a turn at the chief minister's post, currently occupied by the BJP's Devendra Fadnavis.
The BJP chief in Haryana, Subhash Barala, who lost to his rival from the JJP in Tohana assembly seat, denied reports that he had offered to step down after the party's lower than expected performance - it has been struggling to even touch the majority mark of 46 in the 90-seat assembly.
Earlier in the day, Mr Shah cancelled his scheduled appearance on national TV at an event of the Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP).
In Maharashtra, the BJP and its ally Shiv Sena are ahead in around 150 of the state's 288 assembly seats. But the tally is still is way below the 250 seats they were expecting. The BJP, particularly, fell short of expectations.
The party was hoping to cross the majority mark on its own steam, but is leading in around 100 seats -- way below its 2014 tally of 122. The Sena is heading for a tally of around 60. The majority mark lies at 145.
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