BJP set to form govt in Haryana, may need allies in Maharashtra

Mumbai/Chandigarh: The BJP today stormed to power in Haryana for the first time and was all set to form government in Maharashtra where support came from unexpected quarters, the NCP, as the ‘Modi wave' destroyed the Congress citadels in both the states.

While in Haryana, the party won a majority on its own bagging 46 seats in the 90-member Assembly, it emerged as the single largest party in  Maharashtra where it had broken alliance with its oldest ally Shiv Sena ahead of the elections. It was leading in one more seat in Haryana.  

Reflecting the dominance the party had exhibited in the Lok Sabha elections in May, the BJP dislodged Congress in Haryana, which was in power for the last 10 years. It put up a splendid show, recording a jump from a mere four seats in the last elections.

In Maharashtra, where it contested in alliance with three small parties, secured 111 and was leading in 11 seats in the 288-member Assembly.

Though falling short of majority by 22 seats, the BJP was on the way to forming government in Maharashtra with unsolicited support from rival NCP which was in power in coalition with Congress for the last 15 years.  BJP President Amit Shah hinted that the party was not averse to NCP's support and virtually ignored Shiv Sena, its oldest saffron ally.

Sena won 61 seats out of 282 it contested. He noted that the NCP has offered unconditional outside support and not talked of joining the government.  In the elections, seen as the first test of Modi's popularity after his Lok Sabha victory, the BJP mascot proved that the party's show in May was not a flash in the pan though a majority eluded it in Maharashtra. He had campaigned extensively in both the states, addressing 27 rallies in Maharashtra and 11 in Haryana.

As last results kept trickling in, the BJP Parliamentary Board, the party's highest decision-making body, met in the evening to decide its strategy in Maharashtra. Modi, Shah and others including Rajnath Singh, Sushma Swaraj and Shivraj Singh Chouhan attended the meeting.  

As speculation mounted as to whether the BJP will approach Sena, NCP leader Praful Patel announced outside support to it in government formation in the “interest” of stability and development of the state.  

“NCP has decided to extend support to the proposed government of the BJP in Maharashtra... There is no option but to see that the largest party forms a stable government. Also the BJP is ruling in the Centre and it will benefit the state,” Patel told reporters.

The NCP and the Congress, which were decimated in their strongholds by the Modi wave, have won 37 and 39 seats respectively. They were ahead in four and three other seats respectively.

The BJP had contested 257 seats on its own and gave its symbol to 23 allied candidates. Its ally Rashtriya Samaj Paksha won a lone seat.

Raj Thackeray-led MNS was reduced to a rump of one seat against 13 it had won in last elections while the Hyderabad-based Muslim Majlis party opened its account by winning two seats.

In the outgoing House, the BJP had 47 members and its then ally Shiv Sena 45. The Congress had 81 and the NCP 62.

Here goes live updates of vote count

07:47 pm: Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray calls Narendra Modi and Amit Shah to congratulate them on BJP's electoral victory.

07:35 pm: Maharashtra: Pankaja Munde wons from Parli constituency by 26,192 votes

07:22 pm: Historic results, a matter of immense happiness & pride for BJP, says Prime Minister Narendra Modi on poll victory.

05:54 pm: Haryana: BJP gets majority in Haryana, wins 46 out of 90 seats.

05:16 pm: Haryana: BJP's Vandana Sharma, younger sister of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, loses to Jasbir Deswal, an Independent candidate, by a margin of 1,422 votes from Safidon seat.

04:37 pm: Haryana: Ajay Singh Yadav, six-time MLA from Rewari, loses to BJP candidate Randhir Singh Kapriwas.

04:28: Maharashtra: NCP has offered unconditional support from outside. It has not talked of an alliance: Amit Shah.

04:04 pm: Haryana: Om Prakash Dhankar, President of BJP's Kisan Morcha, defeats Kuldeep Vats, an Independent candidate by a margin of 9266 votes from Badli constituency in Rohtak.

03:08 pm: Maharashtra: NCP ready to offer outside support to BJP Govt in the state

02:58 pm: Haryana: Kuldeep Bishnoi wins the Adampur seat by a margin of over 17,000 votes

02:56 pm: Haryana: Renuka Bishnoi of Haryana Janhit Congress wins Hansi seat by 14652 votes

02:43 pm: Haryana: Manish Kumar Grover of BJP defeats B B Batra of Congress by 1132 votes from Rohtak seat

02:42 pm: Haryana: Santosh Chauhan Sarwan of BJP defeats Rajbir Singh of INLD by 5649 votes from Mullana (SC) constituency

02:41 pm: Haryana: Naib Singh of BJP defeats Ram Kishen of Congress by 24361 votes from Naraingarh

02:40 pm: Haryana: Pirthi Singh of INLD defeats Santosh Rani of BJP by 9152 votes from Narwana (SC) seat

02:40 pm: Haryana: Gian Chand Gupta of BJP defeats Kulbushan Goyal of INLD by 44602 votes from Panchkula

02:39 pm: Haryana: Rohita Rewri of BJP defeats Virender Kumar Shah of Congress by 53721 votes from Panipat City

02:39 pm: Haryana: Mahipal Dhanda of BJP defeats Dhara Singh Rawal, an Independent, by 36123 votes from Panipat Rural seat

02:37 pm: Haryana: Jaswinder Singh Sandhu of INLD defeats Jai Bhagwan Sharma of BJP by 9347 votes from Pehowa

02:36 pm: Haryana: Rahish Khan, an Independent, defeats Mohd Illyas of INLD BY 3141 votes from Punhana seat

02:36 pm: Haryana: Dinesh Kaushik, Independent, defeats Randhir Singh Gollen of BJP by 4832 votes from Pundri

02:36 pm: Haryana: Jaiveer Singh of Congress defeats Pawan Kumar, Independent, by 14182 votes from Kharkhauda (SC) constituency

02:33 pm: Haryana: Parminder Singh Dhull of INLD defeats Dharminder Singh Dhull of Congress by 22806 votes from Julana seat

02:26 pm: Haryana: Karan Dev Kamboj of BJP defeats Usha Kashyap of INLD by 23875 votes from Indri constituency

02:23 pm: Haryana: Manohar Lal Khattar of BJP defeats Jai Prakash Gupta, Independent, by 63,773 from Karnal constituency

02:20 pm: Maharashtra: Bharat Gogavale of Shiv Sena won the Mahad seat in Raigad by defeating Congress' Manik Jagtap by over 19,000 votes

02:15 pm: Maharashtra: Peasants and Workers Party (PWP) candidate Subhash alias Pandit Patil defeated his nearest rival Mahendra Dalvi of Shiv Sena by over 12,000 votes from Raigad's Alibaug constituency

02:05 pm: Maharashtra: NCP's Dipika Sanjay Chavan wins from Baglan seat

01:55 pm: Maharashtra: State Congress chief Manikrao Thakre resigns following party drubbing in Assembly polls

01:40 pm: Haryana: Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) leader Renuka Bishnoi wins from Hansi

01:33 pm: Haryana: Naina Chautala, wife of Abhay Chautala, wins from Dabwali

01:30 pm: Haryana: Congress candidate Kiran Chaudhry wins from Tosham

01:25 pm: Haryana: Indian National Lok Dal leader Dushyant Chautala loses from Cchanna

01:23 pm: Haryana: Senior INLD leader Abhay Singh Chautala wins from Ellenabad

01:20 pm: Maharashtra: NCP's Pankaj Bhujbal wins from Naandgaav

01:15 pm: Haryana: Gopal Kanda leading from Sirsa

01:13 pm: Haryana: Capt. Abhimanyu leads from Narnaud by 953 votes

01:06 pm: Haryana: Congress candidate Jai Teerath Dahiya wins from Rai in Sonipat by three votes

01:00 pm: Maharashtra: MIM candidate Waris Yusuf Pathan byculla

12:56 pm: Haryana: Congress candidate Lalit Nagar wins from Faridabad Tigaon

12:50 pm: Haryana: INLD candidate Nagender Bhadana wins from NIT seat

12:48 pm: Haryana: BJP's Vipul Goyal wins from Faridabad seat

12:45 pm: Haryana: BJP's Seema Trikha wins from Bhadkal seat

12:44 pm: Haryana: Shiromani Akali Dal candidate Balkaur Singh wins from Kalanwali seat

12:41 pm: Maharashtra: Narayan Rane's son Nitesh Rane wins from Kankavli

12:38 pm: Maharashtra: Congress's Amit Deshmukh wins from Latur City

12:34 pm: Maharashtra: NCP candidate Dilip Walse wins from Ambegaon seat by over 58,000 votes

12:33 pm: Maharashtra: NCP candidate Ajit Pawar wins from Baramati

12:30 pm: Maharashtra: Shiv Sena's Gautam Chabukdwar wins from Pimpri

12:30 pm: Haryana: Congress candidate Sawtri Jindal loses from Hisar City

12:29 pm: Haryana: BJP's Dr. Kamal gupta wins from Hisar City

12:28 pm: Maharashtra: Prithviraj Chavan wins from Karad South

12:22 pm: Celebration outside Nitin Gadkari's residence in Delhi

12:16 pm: Haryana: Maharashtra: BJP candidate Sunil Deshmukh wins from Amrawati

12:14 pm: Haryana: Congress candidate Randeep Surjewala wins from Kaithal

12:10 pm: Maharashtra: Udhav Thackeray to take a call on BJP's proposal to form government: Shiv Sena leader Anil Desai

12:07 pm: Maharashtra: BJP's Vinod Tawde wins from Borivali

12:06 pm: Maharashtra: BJP's Yogesh Pilekar leads by around 25,000 votes from Hadapsar seat

12:05 pm: Maharashtra: Shiv Sena top leadership to meet at 4 pm at Matoshri.

11:57 am: Maharashtra: NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal wins from Yeola in Nashik district by defeating his nearest rival Sambhaji Pawar of Shiv Sena by 46,442 votes

11:46 am: Maharashtra: BJP's Devendra Fadnavis wins from Nagpur (SW) by 48000 votes

11:40 am: Haryana: BJP candidate Gyan Chand Gupta wins from Panchkula

11:39 am: Maharashtra: BJP's Sardar Tara Singh leading by 13,000 votes from Mulund

11:36 am: Haryana: Latika Sharma of BJP wins Kalka assembly seat

11:34 am: Maharashtra: Shiv Sena's Vaibhav Naik wins from Kudul seat

11:31 am: Maharashtra: BJP's Bala Hegde wins from Maval assembly

11:29 am: Maharashtra: Congress leader Narayan Rane loses from Kudul seat

11:28 am: Maharashtra: Congress candidate Radhakrishna Vikhe wins from Shirdi seat

11:26 am: Maharashtra: Shiv Sena candidate Rajabhau Vaaje wins from Sinnar

11:25 am: Maharashtra: Shiv Sena candidate Yogesh Gholap wins from Devlali

11:24 am: Uttar Pradesh: Samajwadi Party candidate Nahid Hasan wins by-election from Kairana assembly seat

11:22 am: Haryana: Congress candidate Geeta Bhukkal wins from Jhajjar (SC)

11:19 am: Maharashtra: Uday Samat of Shiv Sena leading from Ratnagiri seat

11:18 am: Maharashtra: Amit Deshmukh of Congress leading from Latur City

11:17 am: Haryana: Bhupinder Singh Hooda wins from Garhi-Kiloi-Sampla constituency

11:11 am: Haryana: Congress candidate and state Assembly Speaker Kuldeep Sharma leading by 2,722 votes from Ganaur seat

11:08 am: Haryana: OP Chautala's grandson Dushyant Chautala takes lead in Uchana Kalan, BJP's Prem Lata a close second

11:05 am: BJP president Amit Shah to brief media at 4 pm

11:02 am: Maharashtra: Om Mathur, Devendra Fadnavis and Eknath Khadse hold closed-door meeting at BJP office

11:00 am: Maharashtra: BJP's Dilip Kamble leading by around 10,000 votes from Pune Cantonment

10:55 am: Maharashtra: BJP's Pankaja Munde leading by around 6,400 votes from Parli

10:52 am: Haryana: BJP's Shyam Singh Rana wins from Radaur

10:45 am: Haryana: BJP candiadte Anil Vij wins from Ambala Cantt

10:35 am: ‘Priyanka lao desh bachao' slogans at Congress office in Delhi

10:30 am: Maharashtra: Shiv Sena's Anil Kadam wins from Niphad constituency

10:29 am: Maharashtra: BJP's Medha Kulkarni wins from Kothrud seat

10:27 am: Haryana: Independent candidate Tek Ram Kandela trailing from Jind constituency

10:24 am: Maharashtra: BJP's Devendra Fadnavis leading from Nagpur (south-east) over his nearest Congress rival Praful Gudadhe-Patil by 23,000 votes

10:22 am: Massive celebrations at the offices of BJP in Delhi, Maharashtra, Haryana

10:21 am: Haryana: Ramniwas Ghorela of Congress leading over Ved Narang of INLD by 51 votes from Barwala

10:20 am: Haryana: Surinder Singh of HJC-BL leading over Rajdeep of INLD by 945 votes from Dadri

10:19 am: Haryana: Om Parkash Barwa of INLD leading over Jai Parkash Dalal of BJP by 1803 votes from Loharu

10:18 am: Haryana: Nayab Singh of BJP leading over Ram Kishan of Congress by 442 votes from Naraingarh

10:16 am: Haryana: Daya Bhurtana of INLD leading over Ram Kishan Fauji of Congress by 2074 votes from Bawani Khera

10:15 am: Haryana: Dev Kumar Sharma of BJP leading over Kamalvir Singh of Congress by 250 votes from Dabwali

10:14 am: Haryana: Krishan Lal Panwar of BJP leading over Balbir Singh of Congress by 1910 votes from Israna

10:14 am: Haryana: Congress candidate and state Assembly Speaker Kuldeep Sharma trailing from Ganaur seat

10:11 am: Haryana: INLD's Haryana unit chief Ashok Arora trailing from his Thanesar

10:10 am: Haryana: Dushyant Chautala of INLD, grandson of former Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala, trailing in Uchana Kalan seat

10:06 am: Maharashtra: Candidate of BJP's ally Shivsangram, Vinayak, leading from Beed

10:04 am: Maharashtra: BJP's Madhuri Misal wins from Parvati seat

09:55 am: Haryana: Mahender Partap Singh of Congress trailing from Badhkal

09:53 am: Haryana: INLD candidate Pardeep Chaudhary leading over Latika Sharma of BJP

09:50 am: Maharashtra: Prithviraj Chavan leading from Karad South by 12 votes after completion of 4th round counting

09:47 am: Haryana: INLD candidate Abhay Chautala trailing from Ellenabad

09:44 am: Maharashtra: BJP's Madhuri Misal leading from Parvati seat

09:41 am: Maharashtra: Congress candidate Harshvardhan Patil trailing from Indapur seat

09:39 am: Maharashtra: Shiv Sena and BJP don't believe in ‘rivalry politics'. Shiv Sena is BJP's natural ally: Devendra Fadnavis

09:35 am: Maharashtra: BJP's Sudhir Mungaitiwar leading from Chnadrapur seat

09:32 am: Maharashtra: MIM candidate Taufik Shaikh leading from Solapur

09:31 am: Maharashtra: Samajwadi Party (SP)'s Abu Aazmi trailing from Mankhurd seat

09:29 am: Maharashtra: BJP to invite Shiv Sena to form government

09:27 am: Haryana: Gopal Kanda leading from Sirsa

09:25 am: Maharashtra: RR Patil leading from Tasgaon by 1424 votes

09:22 am: Maharashtra: BJP's Eknath Khadse leading form Mukktai Nagar by 6800 votes

09:21 am: Maharashtra: BJP's Kishanchand Tanvani leading from Aurangabad Purv (East)

09:19 am: Maharashtra: Son of former CM Vilasrao Deshmukh, Amit Deshmukh, trailing

09:18 am: Maharashtra: Daughter of former Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, Praniti Shinde, trailing

09:15 am: Haryana: BJP's Captain Abhimanyu leads in Narnaund

09:14 am: Haryana: Congress's Randeep Singh Surjewala trails in Kaithal

09:12 am: Haryana: Bhupinder Singh Hooda leads in Garhi-Sampla Kiloi

09:09am: Haryana: Sushma Swaraj's sister Vandana Sharma leading from Safidon constituency

09:08 am: Haryana: Seema Trikha of BJP leading over Congress candidate Mahender Pratap by 4,573 votes from Badhkal seat

09:06 am: Haryana: Vinod Sharma trailing from Ambala City

09:05 am: BJP parliamentary board to meet at 6 pm today

09:03 am: Maharashtra: NCP's Ajit Pawar leading from Baramati

09:02 am: Maharashtra: RR Patil trailing from Tasgaon

09:01 am: Haryana: Umesh Aggarwal of BJP leading over Sukhbir Kataria by 14 votes in Gurgaon

09:00 am: Haryana: Nirmal Singh of Congress leading over Anil Vij of BJP by 402 votes

08:59 am: Haryana: Gian Chand Gupta of BJP leading over Kulbhushan Goyal of INLD by 931 votes from Panchkula

08:58 am: Haryana: BJP president Ram Bilas Sharma leading from Mahendragarh

08:57 am: Maharashtra: NCP ready to support Shiv Sena: Nawab Malik

08:55 am: Haryana: Gopal Kamda trailing from Sirsa

08:52 am: Haryana: BJP candiadte Anil Vij leading from Ambala Cantt

08:50 am: Maharashtra: BJP's Girish Mahajan leading from Jamner

08:49 am: Maharashtra: Eknath Khadse leading from Muktainagar

08:49 am: Maharashtra: Vinod Tawade leading from Boriwali

08:48 am: Maharashtra: Congress leader Kripashankar Singh trailing Kalina

08:47 am: Maharashtra: BJP's Raju Bhole leading from Jalgoan

08:46 am: Maharashtra: BJP's Devendra Fadnavis leads by 10,228 votes after completion of second round

08:45 am: Maharashtra: Congress candidate Radha Krishna Vikhe leading from Shirdi seat

08:44 am: Maharashtra: BJP's Pankaja Munde leading from Parli

08:43 am: Maharashtra: BJP leading in 57, Shiv Sena in 26, Congress in 22

08:40 am: Maharashtra: State Congress president Manikrao Thackerayu's son Rahul Thackeray trailing from Yewatmal seat

08:38 am: Haryana: BJP leads in 46, Congress in 9, INLD in 7, HJC in 2

08:36 am: Haryana: se BJP candidate leading from Badkal seat

08:36 am: Haryana: BJP candidate leading from Gurgaon seat

08:35 am: Haryana: BJP candidate Pawan Saini leading from Ladwa seat

08:33 am: Maharashtra: Congress leader and former Maharashtra CM Prithviraj Chavhan trailing from Karad South

08:32 am: Maharashtra: BJP's Devendra Fadanvis is leading from Nagpur South-West seat

08:30 am: Maharashtra: BJP leads in western Maharashtra

08:29 am: Maharashtra: Congress leader Narayan Rane trailing from Kudul seat in Konkan

08:20 am: Maharashtra: BJP leads in 12, Shiv Sena in 6, Congress in 3, NCP in 2

Haryana recorded its highest-ever turnout of 76.54 per cent while Maharashtra recorded 63.13 per cent polling.

Exit polls have projected that the BJP will emerge as the largest party in both Maharashtra and Haryana stopping short of majority.

There are 288 counting centres at 269 locations in Maharashtra. Trends are expected to be available around noon and final results will begin pouring in around 3 pm.

Altogether, 63.13 per cent voters cast their vote in the Assembly polls. Polling was also held for the Beed Lok Sabha bypoll on October 15. Counting for Beed Lok Sabha seat is also going on.

BJP fielded 280, BSP 260, CPI 34, CPM 19, Congress 287, NCP 278, Shiv Sena 282 and MNS had fielded 219.

A total of 4,119 candidates contested the poll. Of the 288 constituencies, including 36 constituencies in Mumbai, 234 are general, 29 reserved for scheduled castes and 25 for scheduled tribes.

In Haryana, the fate of the Bhupinder Singh Hooda-led Congress government, which is aiming at a third successive term, and BJP, which is eyeing to form a government on its own, would be known today.

The state had created history by clocking an all-time high polling of about 76.54 per cent, surpassing maximum of 72.65 per cent in 1967 in the high-stakes battle among top contenders Congress, BJP and INLD in a multi-cornered contest.

The fate of 1351 candidates, including 116 women - the highest number since the formation of the state in 1966, was sealed during the single day polling.

Unlike in the recent past, when the fight was mainly between Congress and Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), a number of new players have thrown their hats in the ring this time.