The Congress is likely to sweep Haryana and was ahead of other parties in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) assembly polls which is likely to be a cliffhanger, exit polls aired on Saturday projected.
The results for both the assembly elections will be declared on October 8.
Various pollsters showed that Congress continued its momentum from the Lok Sabha elections in Haryana as it was projected to cross the half way mark of 46 seats in the assembly constituency of 90 members, offering chance to regain power from the BJP after a gap of a decade.
In the single-phase polling in Haryana which took place on Saturday, the voter turn out as of 7 pm was 61.19 per cent which is less than that of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, where it was recorded 64.8 percent at all polling stations, the Election Commission of India said.
While India Today-C Voter gave 50-58 seats to Congress, 20-28 to BJP, 0-2 for Dushyant Chautala’s JJP and zero for AAP for the Haryana assembly elections, TimesNow-Dhruv Research projected 50-64 seats for Congress, 22-32 to BJP and between 2 to 8 to others.
Likewise, Republic-PMarq exit poll predicted Congress’ emphatic victory with 51-61 seats, and the BJP is projected to win 27-35 seats. It said that the vote share of the Congress will jump to 44 per cent, while that of BJP will come down to 37 per cent in the State assembly polls.
44 to 54 seats for Congress
Of the exit polls, Dainik Bhaskar projected 44 to 54 seats to the Congress, 19-29 to BJP, 1-5 to INLD and 0-1 seat to AAP. The Congress was sweeping polls largely banking on the strong anti-incumbency against the BJP government, and anger of Jats against the mishandling of reservation agitation. Farmers ire against the central government over the farm laws, molestation of female wrestlers too added to the downslide of the BJP government.
The BJP in 2019 polls had won 40 of 90 seats and had formed the government for second consecutive term with the help of JJP whose 10 MLAs had won.
The Congress-NC alliance, as per exit polls, was projected to have an edge over the BJP in J&K polls, which may offer a hung assembly as no political party is getting a clear majority. The elections for Jammu and Kashmir Assembly which happened in three phases, saw an overall voter turnout of 63.88 per cent.
India Today-C Voter gave 40 to 48 seats to Congress-NC alliance, while 27-32 to the BJP which has done well in the Jammu region of the Unition Territory and 6-12 seats to PDP.
Axis My India showed that Congress was getting 35-45 seats for Congress-NC, 24-34 to the BJP and 4-6 to PDP and 8 to 23 seats to independents. In the triangular contest in J&K, the independent candidates will hold the key for government formation, it appears from the exit polls.
Similarly, Dainik Bhaskar gave 35-40 seats to Congress-NC, 20-25 to the BJP, 4-7 to PDP and 12-18 to independents.