Aman Sharma
Most exit polls projected a three-fourth majority for the BJP in Haryana except the AXIS-India Today that predicted a hung assembly, prompting Bhupinder Singh Hooda to say his party will hit the majority mark.
There was a drop in polling percentages across most seats in the state, especially in the Jat belt, where opposition parties were expected to put up a challenge. The highest polling in Haryana has been reported to be 83% in Ellanabad.
Urban regions in both Maharashtra and Haryana saw a lower voter turnout while high percentages were reported from rural constituencies. Polling was peaceful in the Maoist infested Gadchiroli. Overall, Maharashtra recorded 63% polling and Haryana 65%
Ulhasnagar, Kalyan East and Andheri West reported less than 40% polling, while Panipat City and Karnal, the Haryana chief minister’s constituency, reported less than 50%. Meanwhile, polling was peaceful in the Maoist-infested Gadchiroli.
One of the killers, Ashfaq, who is on the run, had spoken to Kamlesh Tiwari over phone and Facebook over the past two months posing as a right wing activist in Surat and wishing to work for Tiwari’s organisation.
Turning the election into one focused mainly on nationalistic issues such as scrapping of the Article 370, the BJP is betting on a repeat of the Lok Sabha election in the state just four months ago when it won all 10 Lok Sabha seats.
Ellenabad, in Sirsa, is a key seat in the Jat belt. Contest is on between INLD’s Abhay Chautala and the BJP after it had lost to Chautala by 12,000 votes the last time. Voting for the 90-member Haryana Assembly scheduled for 21 October in a single-phase election.
Owing to bad health, Congress president Sonia Gandhi missed her only election rally in Mahendragarh, Haryana ahead polls. While Rahul Gandhi filled in her place at the rally, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra skipped campaigning in the state all together .
BJP eyes urban-dominated regions of Gurugram and Faridabad in poll-bound Haryana as it campaigns for development, including two new peripheral expressways, 24-hour electricity and promise to bring more investment into Haryana, to name a few.
Senior BJP leaders Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh have addressed nearly 15 public gatherings in Haryana already post the decline of Congress in the region. PM Narendra Modi has added three more rallies to his campaign schedule for the Jat belt.
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