Counting of votes for Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections will take place on Tuesday. The trends will also start coming as soon as the counting starts at 8 am. While the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Haryana is confident that it will be able to retain power for the third consecutive term, the opposition party Congress, encouraged by exit poll projections, is also hoping to return to power after 10 years. At the same time, who will be the new government after the elections held for the first time after the abrogation of 370 in Jammu and Kashmir? A hung government may be formed in the exit polls.
Tough fight between BJP and Congress in Haryana
Haryana Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Pankaj Aggarwal told PTI on Monday, “Three-tier security arrangements have been made at the counting sites.” The assembly elections in Haryana will be the first between BJP and Congress after the Lok Sabha elections. It is a very direct competition. The outcome of this election will be used by the winner to create an atmosphere in his favor in other states where elections are to be held in the next few months.
The main parties in this election are BJP, Congress, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Indian National Lok Dal (INLD)-Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Jannayak Janata Party (JJP)-Azad Samaj Party (ASP). There is a possibility of a direct contest between BJP and Congress on most of the seats. Later in an official statement, CEO Aggarwal said that 93 counting centers have been set up in 90 assembly constituencies in 22 districts of the state.
The statement said that two counting centers each have been set up for Badshahpur, Gurugram and Pataudi assembly seats, while one counting center each has been set up for the remaining 87 constituencies. 90 counting observers have also been appointed by the Election Commission to monitor the counting process. Postal ballots will be counted first, followed by electronic voting machine (EVM) votes 30 minutes later. The CEO said that accurate information about each phase of counting will be uploaded in time.
Multi-cornered contest in Jammu and Kashmir
Voting was held in Jammu and Kashmir along with Haryana, but instead of a direct contest between Congress and BJP, there is a possibility of a multi-cornered contest on most of the seats. A day before counting of votes, top leaders of the Congress-National Conference alliance, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) expressed confidence in forming the next government in the Union Territory. Congress and National Conference (NC) had formed a pre-poll alliance. The alliance claimed that they would cross the magic figure of 46 in the 90-member House on their own. At the same time, BJP is dependent on independent candidates and PDP said that without its support no secular government is possible in Jammu and Kashmir.
National Conference Vice President Omar Abdullah on Monday alleged that if the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is not in a position to form the government in Jammu and Kashmir, then it would want nothing more than to extend the tenure of the central government. Abdullah made this comment on the statement given today by Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) chief Abdul Rashid Sheikh in which he had said that whoever gets the majority, should not form the government till the restoration of statehood in Jammu and Kashmir. The National Conference leader said in his post on X, “The man goes to Delhi for 24 hours and comes back and plays straight into the hands of the BJP. If the BJP is not in a position to form the government, then it would like nothing more than to extend the tenure of the central government in Jammu and Kashmir.”
Mountain of challenges before the new government
National Conference President Farooq Abdullah said on Monday that there will be challenges for the new government in Jammu and Kashmir. Abdullah made this comment while talking to reporters here when asked about the challenges for the new government in Jammu and Kashmir. He said, “There are many challenges. In the last 10 years the state has gone much lower than before. Those challenges have to be faced and must be done. I hope that the Central Government will take a positive stance on this, even if we are against them. It is also hoped that they will realize this. Jammu and Kashmir is an important state and the crown of India and it has two enemies on the borders.”
Asked whether like-minded people would join his party in forming the next government in Jammu and Kashmir, he said, “I hope so…I pray to God…I hope so.” will be. All these people who want to join us and form a strong government. A government that will give the people what they want. I am very happy to come together to build a better Jammu and Kashmir. We should shine all over the country.
