Voting ends in Maharashtra & Haryana, exit polls predict victory for BJP-led alliances

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Assembly election in Maharashtra and Haryana 2019

The mandate of the people is sealed in the EVM's. Now is the time for results. Lakhs and lakhs of voters in Maharashtra and Haryana turned up in good numbers to exercise their right to vote for legislative assemblies in the respective states. In addition to the assembly polls in these two states, assembly bypolls were held in 51 assembly seats spread across the country. In addition to the assembly seats, two Lok Sabha constituencies of Samastipur in Bihar and Satara in Maharashtra went to polls as well.

90 Assembly seats in Haryana and 288 seats of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly are up for grabs. Voter in these two states havesealed the fate of more than 4400 candidates who are in the race to be MLAs of the respective legislative assemblies. Out of these, 1169 candidates are in electoral fray for Haryana Legislative Assembly while 3237 are trying their luck in Maharashtra.

It is estimated that average voter turnout in Maharashtra was 55.30% while that in Haryana was 61.62%.

Situation in Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Polls 2019:

The BJP, which is seeking a second straight term under Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in Maharashtra, is contesting 164 seats, which include candidates of smaller allies contesting on its lotus symbol, while Sena has fielded candidates on 126 seats.

On the other hand, the Congress has fielded 147 candidates and the ally NCP 121.

Situation in Haryana Legislative Assembly Polls 2019:

In Haryana, the Congress is hoping to make a comeback following a change in guard in the state, while the BJP led by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has set a target of winning 75 seats out of 90 in which 1,169 candidates of various political outfits are contesting.

Currently, the BJP has 48 members in state assembly.

In Maharashtra:

Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) were plagued by infighting in the run up to Maharashtra Legislative Assembly elections 2019. As a result, The opposition campaign was lacklusture.

The Congress and NCP failed to hold even a single joint rally. While Modi addressed nine rallies across the state, Rahul Gandhi spoke at six public meetings.

The campaign also saw an undertone of jostling for supremacy between the BJP and the Sena, which had fought the last assembly elections separately, winning 122 and 63 seats respectively. The Congress had bagged 42 and the NCP 41 seats.

In the April-May Lok Sabha elections, the BJP-Sena alliance won 41 of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra, while the Congress won one and NCP four seats.

In Haryana:

The Dushyant Chautala-led Jannayak Janta Party (JJP), a breakaway faction of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), is also hoping for an improvement in its prospects following the Lok Sabha debacle. The party had emerged on the scene following a feud in the Chautala clan in Decamber last year.

The BSP, AAP, INLD-SAD combine, Swaraj India and the Loktantra Suraksha Party (LSP) have thrown their hat into the ring, though none of them is fighting on all 90 seats.

Prominent amongst those in the contest are Chief Minister Khattar (Karnal), former chief minister and Congress Legislative Party leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda (Garhi Sampla-Kiloi), Randeep Singh Surjewala (Kaithal), Kiran Choudhary (Tosham) and Kuldeep Bishnoi (Adampur) and JJP's Dushyant Chautala (Uchana Kalan).

The BJP has fielded three sportspersons -- Babita Phogat (Dadri), Yogeshwar Dutt (Baroda in Sonipat) and Sandeep Singh (Pehowa) -- besides TikTok star Sonali Phogat (Adampur).

While Prime Minister Modi addressed seven rallies in the state, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi addressed two election meetings.

Result for both the states are due on October 24, 2019.

In addition to the elections in Maharashtra and Haryana, bypolls were carried out in 51 assembly constituencies across the country in different states.

Here's the statewise voter turnout for the same.

Arunachal Pradesh: 90.74%

Assam: 74.14%

Bihar: 49.50%

Gujarat: 50.35%

Himachal Pradesh: 67.97%

Kerala: 64.99%

Madhya Pradesh: 56.62%

Meghalaya: 79.83%

Odisha: 72%

Punjab: 60.59%

Rajasthan: 64.25%