Chandigarh. According to Election Commission of India (ECI) data, BJP is leading in Haryana after a tough fight in early trends. BJP is leading on 38 seats, Congress on 36 seats, INLD on one seat and BSP on one seat. Probable chief ministerial candidates from both the parties – BJP’s Nayab Singh Saini and Congress’s Bhupendra Hooda – are leading with decent votes in their respective seats. Many exit polls have predicted a victory for Congress in Haryana, where voting was 67.90 percent. However, BJP has claimed that it will return to power in Haryana for the third consecutive time. The BJP is aiming to come to power for the third consecutive time, while the main opposition Congress is predicting a comeback in Haryana. Counting of votes for the 90-member Assembly began at 93 counting centers in all 22 districts. Chief Electoral Officer Pankaj Aggarwal said that two counting centers each have been made for Badshahpur, Gurugram and Pataudi assembly constituencies, while one counting center each has been made for the remaining 87 assembly constituencies. 90 counting observers have also been appointed by the Election Commission of India to monitor the counting process.
Aggarwal said that 30 companies of Central Armed Police Forces have been deployed at all the counting centres, which have been kept in a three-tier security cordon. Central security forces have been deployed in the innermost security circle. After this, State Armed Police and District Police personnel will be deployed in the outermost circle. Around 12,000 policemen are on duty. He said that adequate posts have been made within a radius of 100 meters of each counting centre. To keep a close watch on all the activities, CCTV cameras have been installed at the place where Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) is kept. There will be a ban on entry of unauthorized persons in these areas. Additionally, CCTV cameras have been installed at the main entrance of the counting centers and throughout the premises to ensure comprehensive monitoring. He informed that the exact information of counting of votes for each phase will be uploaded on time. A total of 67.90 percent voting took place in the elections held on October 5. The highest turnout of 75.36 percent was in Sirsa district and the lowest turnout of 56.49 percent was in Faridabad district. Constituency wise, the highest turnout of 80.61 percent was in Ellenabad and the lowest was 48.27 percent in Badkhal. Most exit polls had predicted that Congress would wrest power from BJP in Haryana after being in opposition for 10 years.
Congress, which campaigned vigorously under the leadership of former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, is expected to get 49-55 seats in the 90-member assembly. However, predicting a historic victory for the third consecutive time, Chief Minister and BJP candidate from Ladwa assembly seat, Nayab Singh Saini said that he does not need any alliance as he will form the government on his own. Besides, two-time chief minister Bhupendra Hooda, who is the frontrunner for the chief ministerial post, expressed confidence that the party will form the government in the state with an “overwhelming majority”. Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) and Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) are also in the fray. Several independent candidates, most of whom are BJP rebels, have made the contest multi-cornered on many seats. The BJP’s vote share was 36.49 percent in the October 2019 assembly elections, when the party could not win more than half the seats in the 90-member assembly and formed a post-poll alliance with the JJP. Congress recorded an increase of more than 15 percent in its vote share in 2024 compared to the vote share in the 2019 parliamentary elections.