Falling short of a majority, BJP is emerging as the largest party in the Maharashtra Assembly and the Shiv Sena looks set to finish second, triggering conciliatory noises from the two former allies over Government formation but each appeared to be waiting for the other to blink first.
BJP touches 100 in Maharashtra
At 5.20 pm, results for 237 of the 288 Maharashtra assembly seats have been declared. The BJP has won 100, the Congress has won 36, the NCP has won 33 while the Shiv Sena has won 51. The MNS of Raj Thackeray has only one win so far.
According to leads available for the other 51 constituencies, the BJP leads in 23, the Congress in 7, NCP in 8 and Shiv Sena in 61 constituencies.
According to projections, the BJP will end up as the single largest party with about 123 seats.
It will need the support of the Shiv Sena to form a Government. Reports indicate that the process is still fluid and there is speculation that NCP has offered to support BJP from outside.
Looking at the results in a little more detail, it is clear that if the alliance was formed before the polls, it might have swept the election comfortably. The multi-cornered contest seems to have helped the Congress and NCP from being wiped out in the anti-incumbency wave.
A clearer picture is likely to emerge in the next two to three hours as lead positions get crystallised.
In a major setback for Congress, its campaign committee chief and former Chief Minister Narayan Rane lost to Shiv Sena candidate Vaibhav Naik in Kudal.
Former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan of Congress, NCP leader and former Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar were, however, leading in Karad South and Baramati. A top Congress Minister Harshwardhan Patil was trailing in Indapur.
Owning moral responsibility for the rout, state Congress chief Manikrao Thakre resigned.
“People have given us a mandate to play the role of opposition, and we will be a constructive Opposition,” he said.
With BJP certain to be the winner but failing to secure a majority on its own, its leaders including state party chief Devendra Fadnavis have said the the chief minister’s post will go to the party.
“People have given us the responsibility and we will do whatever is needed to fulfil that responsibility. The Government will be led by us,” BJP MP from Mumbai Kirit Somaiya told a press conference.
There has been speculation that Shiv Sena could demand chief ministership as a condition for the reunion with the BJP to form the Government despite the latter emerging as the largest party
Former state PWD minister Chhagan Bhujbal of NCP retained his Yeola Assembly seat, winning it by a handsome margin of 46,442 votes. Bhujbal defeated his nearest rival Sambhaji Pawar of Shiv Sena, scoring a hat—trick in the process.
Vijay Kale of BJP has defeated sitting Congress MLA Vinayak Nimhan by over 22,000 votes in Pune’s Shivajinagar constituency.
NCP candidate Pankaj Bhujbal has won from Nandgaon, where he defeated his nearest Shiv Sena rival Suhas Kande by 18,436 votes.
Pankaj, son of former Minister Chhagan Bhujbal, won from Nandgaon for the second time in row. This is the first time since 1978 that a sitting MLA has retained the constituency in Nashik district.
Nandgaon was won by Jagannath Dhatrak of Congress in 1980 and 1990, Madhavrao Gaikwad of CPM in 1985, Rajendra Devidas Deshmukh of Shiv Sena in 1995, Congress’ Anil Ahire in 1999 and Sanjay Sayaji Pawar of Shiv Sena in 2004.
Sitting MLA from Niphad constituency Anil Sahebrao Kadam of Shiv Sena has won from the seat, defeating his nearest rival Vaikunth Patil of BJP by 3,921 votes. Rajendra Mogal of Congress and MNS’s Subhash Holkar were also in the fray along with three other candidates. Kadam has won the seat for the second consecutive time.
In Malegaon Central, Congress candidate Shaikh Asif Shaikh Rashid has won the seat by defeating his nearest rival NCP’s Mufti Mohammad Ismail Kasami with 18,000 votes. Rashid was the sitting MLA from the constituency. A total of 12 candidates had contested the seat.
Trends in Mumbai city
In Mumbai city, Congress was leading only in Dharavi and Mumbadevi.
NCP’s Sachin Ahir, who was Minister of State for Housing in the erstwhile Congress-NCP government, and senior MNS leader Bala Nandgaonkar were trailing from the Worli and Shivdi seats, respectively.
Another MNS heavyweight Nitin Sardesai, locked in a tough fight with Sena’s Sada Sarvankar in Mahim, established a lead by about 2,000 votes as counting progressed in the 11th round.
In the suburbs, BJP’s Manisha Chaudhari had established a comfortable lead over her rivals in Dahisar at the end of the seventh round.
Shiv Sena leader Vinod Ghosalkar, the sitting MLA in Dahisar, was pitted against women candidates in the constituency.
Sena’s senior leader Subhash Desai was trailing behind his BJP rival. Desai had polled 24,495 votes as against BJP’s Vidya Thakur who bagged 26,772 votes.
In Ghatkopar west, Ram Kadam, who had defected from MNS to BJP on the eve of elections, was leading by 10,718 votes.
Kadam polled 21,187 votes as against Sudhir More of Shiv Sena, who got 10,469 votes.
The former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan was strengthening his lead, according to latest trends. He was leading with 49,560 votes, a lead of nearly 20,000 votes over his nearest rival. Ajit Pawar, former deputy chief minister, also widened his lead over his nearest BJP rival by over 35,000 votes, securing about 56,066 votes so far. Counting is still in progress.
BJP nominee Mallikarjun Reddy was leading in Ramtek constituency as he secured 13,387 votes while sitting Shiv Sena MLA Ashish Jaiswal was trailing with 9,977 votes.
Congress candidate and former Union Minister Subodh Mohite was at the third spot with 8,069 votes.
In Dhamangaon in Wardha district, sitting MLA Virendra Jagtap of Congress got 18,079 votes while veteran leader BJP’s Arun Adsad was trailing behind with 10,967 votes.
In Ralegaon (ST) (Yavatmal), Congress candidate Vasant Purke was trailing with 18,085 votes, while Ashwin Uike of BJP was leading with 33,184 votes.
In Sangli, BJP candidate Sudhirdada Gadgil was leading by 2,135 votes by the end of the eighth round. In Pune, former Congress minister Harshawardhan Patil was trailing by over 10,000 votes in Indapur constituency.
In Muktainagar constituency, Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly Eknath Khadse (BJP) was leading by a margin of 3,162 votes.
In Parli constituency, Pankaja Munde (BJP) was leading by a margin of 263 votes over her nearest rival.
In Latur city, Amit Deshmukh (Congress) was leading by a margin of 7,088 votes.
Former Minister Madhukarrao Chavan (Congress) was leading by a margin of 1,709 votes in Tuljapur constituency of Osmanabad.
In Ratnagiri, Uday Samant, who had switched from the NCP to Shiv Sena on the eve of elections, was leading by a margin of 3,524 votes.
In Kankavli, Nitesh Rane (Cong) was leading by a margin of 3,412 votes.
In Sawantwadi, Deepak Kesarkar (Shiv Sena) was ahead by a margin of 14,286 votes over his nearest rival.
In Byculla constituency of Mumbai, BJP’s Madhu Chavan was leading by 444 votes.
In Nandurbar constituency, Vijaykumar Gavit (BJP) was leading by 3,288 votes.
Both the formations — Congress and NCP and BJP and its oldest saffron alliance Shiv Sena — fought the elections this time on their own, without any alliance.
In the last elections, Congress had won 82 seats and its then ally NCP had got 62 seats. BJP and Shiv Sena could get 46 and 44 seats respectively then.
Comfortable victory in Haryana
Riding a Modi wave, the BJP, which contested the Assembly polls on its own in Haryana for the first time, is set to form the new Government, winning 24 seats and leading in 26 others in the 90-member Assembly.
According to the Election Commission, BJP has won 24 seats and was leading comfortably in 26 others, the Congress had bagged 9 and was leading in 5, the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) had won 12 seats and was leading in 6, while its ally Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) had won one. HCJ was leading in two, HLP leading in one seat and Independents have won three and leading in 1.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who addressed 11 rallies in the State in the run-up to the October 15 polls, has clearly helped BJP romp home comfortably, a senior party leader said.
Conceding defeat, Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda hoped that the new dispensation will continue the growth momentum seen in the State during its 10-year rule.
“A new Government is going to come. I hope they will keep the growth momentum of Haryana,” Hooda, who defeated INLD’s Satish Kumar Nandal by 47,185 votes from Garhi Sampla-Kiloi constituency in Rohtak district, said.
INLD, which has been out of power in the State for about a decade, is likely to end up as the second largest outfit in terms of the number of seats won.
Outfits such as Kuldeep Bishnoi’s Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC BL) and its ally former Union Minister Venod Sharma’s Jan Chetna Party (JCP), BSP, Left, the Haryana Lokhit Party (HLP) of Gopal Kanda, facing trial in the air hostess suicide case, are set to bite the dust and their emergence on the political map of Haryana seems to be ebbing.
Prominent winners include Anil Vij (Ambala Cant), INLD leader Abhay Singh Chautala, Naina Singh Chautala, wife of the party’s senior leader Ajay Singh Chautala, and Haryana Minister and Congress party spokesman Randeep Singh Surjewala.
Haryana Minister Savitri Jindal, mother of industrialist and former MP Naveen Jindal, lost to Dr Kamal Gupta of BJP.
Swaraj’s sister Vandana Sharma, a political greenhorn, is ahead of her Congress rival in the Safidon seat.
INLD’s Dushyant Chautala, Hisar MP and grandson of former Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala, was defeated by Prem Lata Singh of the BJP, wife of senior party leader Birender Singh, by 7,480 votes from Uchana Kalan seat.
Ram Bilas Sharma, Haryana BJP President, has defeated Dhan Singh Rao of Congress by 34,491 votes from Mahendergarh constituency.
Haryana Minister and Congress party spokesman Randeep Singh Surjewala has defeated Kailash Bhagat of INLD by 23,675 votes from Kaithal constituency.
Naina Singh Chautala, wife of of INLD’s senior leader Ajay Singh Chautala, has defeated Dr K V Singh of Congress by 8,545 votes from Dabwali seat.
From Ganaur, Haryana Assembly Speaker Kuldeep Sharma has defeated Nirmal Rani of INLD by 7,543 votes.
Haryana Minister Savitri Jindal, mother of noted industrialist and former MP Naveen Jindal, lost to Dr Kamal Gupta of BJP from 13,646 votes from Hisar.
INLD leader Abhay Singh Chautala has defeated Pawan Beniwal of BJP by 11,539 votes from Ellenabad constituency.
Haryana Janhit Congress (BL) chief Kuldeep Bishnoi has defeated Kulbeer Singh Beniwal of INLD by 17,249 votes from Adampur constituency in Hisar district.
Minister Geeta Bhukkal (Congress) has defeated Sadhu Ram of the INLD by 26,584 votes in Jhajjar (SC) constituency.
Jai Tirath of Congress has defeated Inderjeet of INLD by three (3) votes from Rai constituency.
Manish Kumar Grover of BJP has defeated B B Batra of Congress by 1,132 votes from the Rohtak seat.
Krishan Kumar of BJP has defeated Ram Karan of INLD by 562 votes from Shahbad (SC) seat.
Kavita Jain of BJP has defeated Dev Raj Diwan of Congress by 25,810 votes from Sonepat.
Subhash Sudha of BJP has defeated Ashok Kumar Arora of INLD by 25,638 votes from Thanesar.
Lalit Nagar of Congress has defeated Rajesh Nagar of BJP by 2,938 votes from Tigaon.
Om Prakash Barwa of INLD has trounced Jai Prakash Dalal of BJP by 2,095 votes from Loharu.
Ranbir Gangwa of INLD has defeated Chander Mohan of HJC (BL) by 7,115 votes from Nalwa constituency.
Zakir Husain of INLD has defeated Aftab Ahmed of Congress by 32,796 votes from Nuh.
Kiran Chaudhary of Congress has defeated Kamla Rani of INLD by 19,741 votes from Tosham constituency.
Anoop Dhanak of INLD has defeated Seema Gaibipur of BJP by 17,927 votes from Uklana (SC) seat.
Dr Raghubir Singh Kadian of Congress has defeated Chatar Singh, an Independent, by 4,493 votes from Beri.
Vipul Goyal of BJP has defeated Anand Kaushik of Congress by 44,781 votes from Faridabad.
Manohar Lal Khattar of the BJP has defeated Jai Prakash Gupta, Independent, by 63,773 from Karnal constituency.
Karan Dev Kamboj of BJP has defeated Usha Kashyap of INLD by 23,875 votes from Indri constituency.
Parminder Singh Dhull of INLD has defeated Dharminder Singh Dhull of Congress by 22,806 votes from Julana seat.
Balkaur Singh of Shiromani Akali Dal has defeated Shishpal Keharwala of Congress by 12,965 votes from Kalanwali (SC) constituency.
Latika Sharma of the BJP has defeated Pradeep Chaudhary of INLD by 19,027 votes from Kalka.
Jaiveer Singh of Congress has defeated Pawan Kumar, Independent, by 14,182 votes from Kharkhauda (SC) constituency.
Santosh Chauhan Sarwan of BJP has defeated Rajbir Singh of INLD by 5,649 votes from Mullana (SC) constituency.
Naib Singh of BJP has defeated Ram Kishen of Congress by 24,361 votes from Naraingarh.
Pirthi Singh of INLD has defeated Santosh Rani of BJP by 9,152 votes from Narwana (SC) seat.
Gian Chand Gupta of BJP has defeated Kulbushan Goyal of INLD by 44,602 votes from Panchkula.
Rohita Rewri of BJP has defeated Virender Kumar Shah of Congress by 53,721 votes from Panipat City.
Mahipal Dhanda of BJP has defeated Dhara Singh Rawal, an Independent, by 36,123 votes from Panipat rural seat.
Jaswinder Singh Sandhu of INLD has defeated Jai Bhagwan Sharma of BJP by 9,347 votes from Pehowa.
Rahish Khan, an Independent, has defeated Mohd Illyas of INLD by 3,141 votes from Punhana seat.
Dinesh Kaushik, Independent, has defeated Randhir Singh Gollen of BJP by 4,832 votes from Pundri.
President of the Haryana unit of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) and former Cabinet Minister Ashok Arora has lost by 25,638 votes from Thanesar Assembly constituency in Kurukshetra district losing to BJP’s Subhash Sudha.
Ved Narang of the INLD has defeated BJP’s Surender Punia by 10,261 votes from Barwala constituency.
Bishamber Singh of BJP has defeated INLD’s Dayabhurtana by 2,559 votes from Bawani Khera (SC) constituency.
Rajdeep of INLD has defeated Somvir of BJP by 1,610 votes from Dadri.
Nagender Bhadana of INLD has defeated Pandit Shiv Charan Lal Sharma, an Independent candidate, by 2,914 votes from Faridabad NIT constituency.
Naseem Ahmed of INLD has defeated Mamman Khan, Independent candidate, by 3,245 votes from Ferozepur Jhirka.
Jagbir Singh Malik of Congress has defeated Krishan Chander Banger of INLD by 3,228 votes from Gohana.
The BJP, which is testing the electoral waters on its own for the first time in Haryana, is moving towards wresting power from Congress in the State where dynastic politics seems to have suffered a jolt.
In the last elections in Haryana, Congress had got 40 seats followed by INLD which had won 31. BJP had then got 4 and Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) had won six.
Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) supremo Kuldeep Bishnoi (Adampur), his wife Renuka (Hansi) and his elder brother Chander Mohan (Nalwa) are trailing in their respective constituencies according to available trends.
During the 2009 Assembly elections, Congress won 40 seats, INLD 31, BJP four, HJC-BL six, SAD and BSP one each, and Independents seven.
BJP takes Vidarbha
Maharashtra’s Vidarbha region, where statehood is a contentious issue, has overwhelmingly come out in support of BJP in the Assembly polls and rejected Congress in the hustings.
Of the 62 seats in the region, BJP has won or was leading in 42, while Congress has been reduced to just about a dozen seats.
Prominent winners include Devendra Fadnavis (Nagpur- South West), Sudhir Mungattiwar (Ballarpur) and Chainsukh Sancheti (Malkapur) — all of BJP.
Congress’ only prominent winner is Vijay Wadettiwar, a former Minister who won from Bramhapuri in Chandrapur district.
Vinod Tawde, another senior BJP leader and a CM hopeful, was leading with about 21,302 votes, more than 13,000 votes ahead of his nearest rival Aggarwal Uttamprakash from the Shiv Sena, in the prestigious Borivili constitutency.
Tawde, leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council, is contesting for the first time in the Assembly elections. Counting is still in progress.
In Colaba constitutency, Raj Purohit of the BJP had built up an impressive lead of nearly 10,000 votes over his nearest Shiv sena rival with about 23,660 votes. The sitting MLA, Mrs Annie Shekhar, was a distant third with about 7,889 votes.
NCP candidate and outgoing minister Anil Deshmukh is trailing in Katol against his nephew Ashish Deshmukh of BJP.
Rahul Thakre is trailing in Yavatmal, while former President Pratibha Patil’s son Rajendra alias Raosaheb Shekhawat of Congress is trailing in Amravati.
Former Maharashtra Minister Sanjay Deotale, who joined the BJP and contested from his traditional Warora constituency in Chandrapur, is trailing behind his nearest rival Ashawari Deotale of Congress, who is also his sister-in-law.
Deotale joined the BJP when he was denied the party nomination from the constituency.