The BJP-Shiv Sena coalition was on course to retain power albeit with a reduced majority in Maharashtra where the opposition Congress-NCP alliance put up a good show while the BJP-ruled Haryana ended with a hung assembly and JJP chief Dushyant Chautala likely to become the kingmaker. In the first Assembly elections after the BJP's triumph in the Lok Sabha polls in May, the party's electoral juggernaut met with some resistance in Maharashtra and Haryana with a resurgent Congress performing creditably in the northern state.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerged as the single largest party in Haryana followed by the Congress.
The Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) not only improved its performance in Maharashtra but fared even better than senior partner Congress by contesting lesser number of seats.
In Haryana, the Congress, which failed to bag even one seat in the Lok Sabha polls, won 31 of the 90 seats at stake compared to its previous tally of 15. The BJP, which had 47 seats in the outgoing 90-member house, won 40 seats. The half-way mark is 46.
All eyes were on the fledgling Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) which was floated last year by Dushyant Chautala, a former MP from Hisar, after a vertical split in the once powerful INLD following a family feud in the Chautala clan.
Here are the live updates on counting of votes in Maharashtra and Haryana and bypolls on 51 seats across 17 states:
From the opposition Congress-NCP alliance, the Congress won 44 seats while Sharad Pawar's NCP won 54 seats.
At the BJP HQ, addressing Party Karyakartas. https://t.co/CDPzz8RUwR
- Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 24, 2019
"BJP and Shiv Sena fought elections against each other but the people wanted us to join hands. We partnered with the Shiv Sena after the elections and ran a stable government. And even this time, the people of Maharashtra have given our alliance a complete majority," PM Modi told party workers.
Addressing the partymen in Delhi on Haryana and Maharashtra poll results, PM Modi said: "These are unprecedented victories because normally these days few governments return after five years. In such times to be elected again is a big deal. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Manohar Lal Khattar were never even ministers anywhere before. But they took everyone along and for five years. They served Maharashtra and Haryana with honesty, for welfare of the people."
"I thank people of Haryana and Maharashtra on behalf of BJP workers," says PM Modi as he addresses partymen at Delhi BJP office.
"The BJP has won first two elections in Modi 2.0," says Home Minister Amit Shah as he addresses party workers at Delhi BJP office.
PM Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah arrive at Delhi BJP office to address the party workers. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari accompany him.
Five candidates who hail from the Chautala village in Haryana and represent different parties have registered victories in the assembly elections, following the Devi Lal legacy in state politics. While two of them belong to the JJP, one each was elected on the symbol of the INLD and the Congress. One candidate was elected as an independent.
The Samajwadi Party wrested Uttar Pradesh's Zaidpur constituency from the BJP and retained Rampur while the ruling party and its ally Apna Dal (S) won six seats, as counting continued in three other seats of the assembly bypolls on Thursday. Of the 11 seats, where bypolls were held on October 21, eight were held by the BJP while the Pratapgarh seat was held by its ally Apna Dal (Sonelal). Rampur was held by the SP and Jalalpur by the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).
I thank the people of Haryana for blessing us. We will continue to work with the same zeal and dedication for the state's progress. I laud the efforts of hardworking @BJP4Haryana Karyakartas who toiled extensively and went among the people to elaborate on our development agenda.
- Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 24, 2019/blockquote>
People of Maharashtra have blessed the NDA with immense affection. We are humbled to have got the people's support yet again. Our work towards Maharashtra's progress continues! I salute each and every Karyakarta of the BJP, Shiv Sena and our entire NDA family for their hardwork.
- Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 24, 2019
"Humbling to see the love people have given me. Please treat me the way you always have."
BJP president Amit Shah indicated on Thursday that his party will stake claim to form the next government in Haryana after the assembly election results threw up a hung verdict. The BJP was either winning or leading in 40 seats in the elections to the 90-member state assembly, according to the latest election commission figures, falling short of the majority mark of 46.
"The (Manohar Lal) Khattar government in Haryana has made every effort for people''s welfare under the central 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 said in a tweet.
Senior Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala lost to BJP's Leela Ram from Kaithal constituency, as per results declared by the Election Commission. The three-time legislator was defeated by a margin of 1,246 votes. After trailing initially, Mr Surjewala had earned lead by a slim margin, but trailed again. His loss is a big blow to the Congress in Haryana.
There is a reason why @PawarSpeaks commands the kind of hold he has in Maharashtra politics. Ultimately, politics is about presence on the ground and he led @NCPspeaks from the front. @dir_ed case against him was ill-timed and a strategic error, according to @ShivSena sources.
- Saurabh Gupta(Micky) (@MickyGupta84) October 24, 2019
That's how Haryana celebrates... this victory party of independent Rakesh Daulatabad has atleast 2000 jat men and I dare not say the rest! #ResultsWithNDTV #HaryanaAssemblyPolls2019 pic.twitter.com/VzlU41JmoZ
- Sonal MehrotraKapoor (@Sonal_MK) October 24, 2019
OBC leader and BJP candidate Alpesh Thakor on Thursday lost the by-election to Radhanpur Assembly seat in Gujarat. Congress'' Raghubhai Desai defeated Mr Thakor by over 3,500 votes, an official said. Mr Thakor, who emerged as an OBC leader during the Patel quota agitation and won the Radhanpur seat in the 2017 polls on Congress'' ticket, later quit after differences with the state party leadership. The by-election to the seat became necessary after he resigned as an MLA. He earlier opposed the inclusion of Patidar community in the Other Backward Class (OBC) category for reservation. His close aide Dhavalsinh Jhala, who also switched over to the BJP, also lost the by-election from Bayad Assembly.
Former Maharashtra deputy chief minister and NCP leader Ajit Pawar on Thursday won from the Baramati assembly seat by a huge margin of 1,65,265 votes, according to the Election Commission. Ajit Pawar, nephew of NCP president Sharad Pawar, polled 1,95,641 votes, while his nearest rival, Gopichand Padalkar of the BJP, bagged just 30,376 votes. According to NCP office-bearers, this was a record-breaking victory margin for Ajit Pawar in Baramati, a bastion of the Pawar family in western Maharashtra''s Pune district. In 2014, Ajit Pawar had won from the seat with a margin of 89,791 votes. With this thumping victory, Ajit Pawar retained Baramati for a sixth straight term.
The results of the two state assemblies - Maharashtra and Haryana, that went to polls on Monday, clearly indicate that its a setback for the BJP, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Thursday. "The BJP has suffered a setback from its often projected statement of one party rule. This has not happened in Maharashtra and Haryana as the results indicate. Elections to the two states took place a few months after the Lok Sabha polls and it is not according to the BJP's expectations," said Mr Vijayan.
With trends of assembly poll results in Maharashtra showing the BJP falling short of the halfway-mark on its own, its ally and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray said it was time to implement "fifty-fifty" formula for power-sharing, decided on earlier.
The BJP and Shiv Sena together were heading for a majority as the counting was going on Thursday.
Addressing a press conference, when asked about which party will get the chief minister''s post, Thackeray said, "It is time to remind the BJP about the formula arrived at when BJP chief Amit Shah visited my home....we had decided on 50:50 formula for the alliance."
Describing the mandate as an "eye-opener for many", Thackeray said the people of the state had kept democracy alive.
"We had agreed to contest fewer seats (than the BJP), but I cannot accommodate the BJP every time. I should allow my party to grow," Uddhav said, indicating that he would drive a hard bargain.
As per the latest trends and results, the BJP had won or was leading on 101 seats and Sena on 57 seats out of the total 288.
The ruling BJP has won in one Assembly constituency and is leading in two other seats in Assam, while the the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) is leading in one seat, Election Commission officials said. By-polls were held in four Assembly seats of the state on Monday.
- Bow our heads to the people
- We will work for the benefit of the people
- Will decide the alliance formula soon
- I will not go into specifics of seats
90% of the BJP-Sena's losses in Maharashtra have come from just two regions: Vidarbha (CM's home) and W. Maharashtra (Maratha heartland). #ResultsWithNDTV
- Sreenivasan Jain (@SreenivasanJain) October 24, 2019
Making his political debut, Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray on Thursday won from the Worli Assembly constituency in Mumbai, an election official said. The 29-year-old Yuva Sena chief, who is the first member from Thackeray family to contest an election, defeated his NCP rival Suresh Mane by a margin of over 70,000 votes. In the run up to the polls, Aaditya Thackeray held several roadshows, foot marches and raised issues like cutting of trees in Aarey Colony and Mumbai''s nightlife. The young Sena leader, during his campaigns, said he wants to make his constituency a "model of development". He had also reached out to non-Marathi voters in the
constituency.
Celebrations at Dushyant Chautala's home in Jind #HaryanaAssemblyPolls2019 pic.twitter.com/AnXk2t0Fe9
- Shruti Menon (@shrutimenon10) October 24, 2019
Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray wins from Worli Assembly seat by over 70,000 votes, defeats NCP's Suresh Mane.
The opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) on Thursday wrested the Simri Bakhtiyarpur assembly seat from the ruling JD(U) in Bihar, an election official said. RJD's Zafar Alam defeated JD(U)candidate Arun Kumar by a comprehensive margin of 15,508 votes, the official said. The by-election to the Assembly seat was necessitated after former state minister and JD(U) MLA Dinesh Chandra Yadav was elected to the Lok Sabha from Madhepura seat.
BJP's Saroj Sonekar on Thursday won the Balha (R) Assembly seat by defeating Samajwadi Party candidate Kiran Bharti Sonekar won by a margin of 46,487 votes. The BJP has retained the seat.
The ruling Congress won the Chitrakot Assembly bypoll in Chhattisgarh on Thursday, poll officials said. Congress'' Rajman Benzam won the bypoll from the naxal-affected constituency, reserved for Scheduled Tribes, by a margin of 17,862 votes against Lachhuram Kashyap of the BJP. Benzam polled 62,097 votes while Kashyap secured 44,235 votes.
Congress candidate Rita Chaudhary on Thursday won the Mandawa assembly bypoll in Rajasthan by a margin of 33,704 votes. Chaudhary defeated BJP''s Sushila Sigra. "I received huge support from women and youth this time and I was sure of my victory," Chaudhary said in Jhunjhunu. Chief minister Ashok Gehlot and deputy chief minister and Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee president Sachin Pilot congratulated Chaudhary on the victory.
The ruling Congress emerged victorious in the bypolls to the Phagwara and Jalalabad assembly segments on Monday. Congress candidate Raminder Awla defeated SAD nominee Raj Singh Dibipura by 16,633 votes from Jalalabad, considered an Akali bastion. Earlier, the assembly segment was represented by Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal, who was elected to the Lok Sabha in May this year. In Phagwara, which fell vacant after its sitting BJP MLA Som Parkash was elected to the Lok Sabha, Congress candidate and former IAS officer Balwinder Singh Dhaliwal defeated BJP nominee Rajesh Bagha with a margin of 26,116 votes.
Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij won from his stronghold Ambala Cantonment seat defeating his nearest rival Chitra Sarwara, an Independent candidate. Vij, a senior BJP leader and five-time MLA from the constituency, defeated Sarwara by a margin of 20,165 votes, according to the result declared by the Election Commission.
Senior Congress leader Kuldeep Bishnoi defeated BJP candidate and TikTok star Sonali Phogat from his stronghold Adampur assembly constituency in Haryana's Hisar district. Bishnoi, younger son of former chief minister Bhajan Lal, defeated Phogat by a margin of 29,471 votes.
The ruling CPI(M)-led LDF registered impressive wins at Vattiyoorkavu and Konni, the two strongholds of the Congress headed UDF, while the
opposition front retained the Ernakulam seat in the October 21 bypolls to the five assembly seats in Kerala.
Thiruvananthapuram Mayor Prasanth, who contested at Vattiyoorkavu constituency won with a margin of 14,465 votes against his nearest rival, Congress party's K Mohankumar, while K U Jinesh Kumar won from Konni by a margin of 9,953 votes.
The UDF candidate T J Vinod won the Ernakulam seat by a margin of 3,750 votes defeating Manu Roy (LDF-IND).
The ruling AIADMK in Tamil Nadu is all set to win both the assembly seats that held by-elections last week. In the neighboring Puducherry, the Congress has won the Kamaraj Nagar seat.
In Tamil Nadu's Vikravandi, AIADMK candidate R Muthamilselvan leads over his DMK rival N Pugalenthi by a margin of 44,782 votes. The by-poll for this seat was called for following the death of DMK MLA Rathamani who had won the seat in 2016.
In Nanguneri, AIADMK's V Narayanan is leading with a margin of around 21,000 votes against Congress's Ruby R Manohar. This seat too was originally with Congress's H Vasantha Kumar who stepped down following his election to the Lok Sabha earlier this year.
Jannayak Janta Party leader Dushyant Chautala remained non-committal on whether his party would support the BJP or the Congress in forming a government in case of a hung assembly.
Early counting trends indicated that neither the ruling BJP nor the Congress will be able to form the government on their own in the state.
The 10-month-old JJP was ahead in at least 10 seats, according to the trends, placing the party leader Dushyant Chautala in the kingmaker''s role.
"It is too early to say anything. We will first summon a meeting of our MLAs, decide who would be our leader in the House and then take it further," he told reporters when asked whether his party will support the BJP or the Congress.
But he also said, "People of Haryana want change."
Haryana's Finance Minister Abhimanyu lost to Jannayak Janata Party candidate Ram Kumar Gautam from the Narnaund constituency in Hisar district. Abhimanyu, a senior leader, was defeated by Gautam by a margin of 12,029 votes, as per the result declared by the Election Commission. Gautam has also remained a former MLA of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
BJP leader and Maharashtra cabinet minister Pankaja Munde on Thursday accepted her defeat
from Parli assembly seat at the hands of her cousin and NCP leader Dhananjay Munde. The result of the Parli seat has not been declared yet, but Pankaja was trailing behind Dhananjay Munde by
almost 30,000 votes. "I worked for the constituency. Though I was in the government, my struggle for my constituency and people continued. I take responsibility of this defeat," she said.
About two hours late but celebrations have finally started at the BJP offices in Mumbai, reports NDTV's Sanket Upadhyay.
Congress candidate Indu Bala won from Mukerian seat in Punjab by defeating her BJP nominee Jangi Lal Mahajan with a margin of 3,440 votes on Thursday. The seat fell vacant following the death of Congress MLA Rajnish Kumar Babbi. Indu Bala is wife of Babbi.
Congress candidate and present deputy mayor TJ Vinod has won Kerala's Ernakulam assembly seat. The seat was with the Congress for a while now, but the margin of victory has come down from over 21,000 votes to around 4,000 votes. "I dedicate this victory to my voters. The margin has to do with the heavy rains on the polling day," said Mr Vinod. Heavy rains on polling day on Monday saw the votes cast from over 71 per cent in 2016 to 57.90 per cent this time. The CPI-M had fielded Manu Roy as an independent candidate.
- People's mandate is accepted by NCP with humility
- In this election, our alliance (including smaller parties) all coordinated
- Especially the workers of Congress and NCP worked together
- This shows people did not like the arrogance of power
- Some people even crossed the line, but will speak on this later
- Defectors have not been accepted by people with some exceptions
- Diwali begins tomorrow so I will meet the candidates and alliance partners and will decide next course of action
With the BJP ahead in just 40 of Haryana's 90 seats, state president Subhash Barala offers to resign.
Looking at the current #HaryanaAssemblyElections trends, BJP may have to resort to resort politics.
- Abhishek Singhvi (@DrAMSinghvi) October 24, 2019
Had things gone to script, the dhols at the BJP office in Mumbai would have started playing; but there are signs reflecting the muted mandate, reports NDTV's Sanket Upadhyay.
At least we have maintained our the majority, the Congress-NCP has only increased its seats by 10 and the Congress has actually gone down, says BJP's Vivek Reddy.
BJP + SS: 156
- Arvind Gunasekar (@arvindgunasekar) October 24, 2019
Cong + NCP: 92
Others: 32
Halfway mark: 145
Just 11 seats ahead of halfway mark...
Exit polls predicted 200+ for BJP+ in Maharastra
NCP leading in Satara Lok Sabha bypoll in Maharashtra
- Nidhi Razdan (@Nidhi) October 24, 2019
If the economy was so torn up, the BJP would also be torn up in these elections, says the BJP's Vivek Reddy. Of course we will look at it like a wake-up call, he says.
There is no doubt that BJP-Shiv Sena will form the government, says the Sena's Sanjay Raut. It will be a 50:50 government as we had agreed, he says.
It's clear the elections were fought on local issues and the credit goes to the local leadership, says Congress's Ashwani Kumar.
Trends clearly show people have voted for change, not even a single BJP minister is winning, Dushyant Chautala says. BJP won the Lok Sabha polls because of Narendra Modi but when it came to Manohar Lal Khattar, the party is failing, he says.
The leadership that the BJP has been able to give in Maharashtra, is sending out the right signals, says BJP's Vivek Reddy. People are tired of the old kind of leadership of the opposition, he says.
We are confident of getting more than 20 seats and 23 per cent of the vote, Virender Sindhu of the JJP says on the NDTV 24x7 panel. There is an anti-BJP movement in Haryana, he says.
Lot of early morning activity at the Gurugram counting centre. 5 seats being counted here that means about 80-90 candidates and thus several party agents. #ResultsWithNdtv #HaryanaAssemblyElections2019 pic.twitter.com/oBCSwdwd6A
- Sonal MehrotraKapoor (@Sonal_MK) October 24, 2019
The big question is will @ShivSena and @BJP4Maharashtra still remain together if the BJP manages to touch 140? Both parties scoff at journalists who ask that question but that is a valid question if the BJP manages to get comfortable numbers on its own! #CountingDay @ndtv https://t.co/9QONplsRQS
- Saurabh Gupta(Micky) (@MickyGupta84) October 24, 2019
In Maharashtra, the BJP-Sena is ahead in 94 seats with leads coming in from 147 of 288 seats. Congress-NCP are at 36.
In Haryana, the BJP is now ahead in 36 seats, up five from last time. It could actually cross 75 like the party said, says Yogendra Yadav.
The Congress and leaders like Sharad Pawar have failed to give the people of Maharashtra the amenities they need, Niranjan Shetty, BJP says. Issues like Article 370 are important to the people, he says.
The Shiv Sena certainly hopes for a win but is worried that if the BJP wins too many seats, it will reduce their dependence on the regional partner, reports NDTV's Saurabh Gupta.
Here we go. #ResultsWithNDTV pic.twitter.com/X2zFEb60q6
- Sreenivasan Jain (@SreenivasanJain) October 24, 2019
Mumbai: BJP state office decorated ahead of counting of votes for #MaharashtraAssemblyPolls pic.twitter.com/WbVuWwy92j
- ANI (@ANI) October 24, 2019
Despite their rocky relationship, the BJP had chosen to continue its alliance with Shiv Sena in. The two parties had come together after a brief breakup when in 2014, neither succeeded in getting majority on its own. Exit polls have predicted an easy win for the alliance.