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Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalistic Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) had mixed results in two assembly elections in India on Tuesday, leading in the state of Haryana and trailing in the federal territory of Jammu and Kashmir, which is holding its first polls in a decade.
The elections are crucial for BJP as it aims for a third term in Haryana and hopes to make inroads in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, which was stripped of its special status granted under the Indian constitution’s Article 370 in 2019.
The political landscape of both Haryana and Kashmir depends on the state assembly elections. In Haryana, the BJP crossed the halfway mark, defying exit polls, and was leading opposition parties, including Indian National Congress. In J&K, it remains to be seen whether the Congress and the regional National Conference (NC) alliance will gain power or whether BJP will spring a surprise.
Exit polls had predicted a win for Congress in Haryana and gave an edge to the Congress-NC alliance in Jammu and Kashmir, where the BJP has traditionally been weak. Both legislatures have 90 members each.
By 1.27pm on Tuesday, the BJP had won one seat in Haryana and was leading in 49 constituencies out of 90, according to the Election Commission of India’s website. In Jammu and Kashmir, the Congress-NC alliance was ahead in 47 constituencies, while the BJP led in 29.
“On October 8, we will form the government, and the Congress will once again blame the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs),” Haryana chief minister Nayab Singh Saini said earlier.
Haryana Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda was also optimistic of winning. Although the election is primarily a two-party battle, regional forces like INLD, and Bahujan Samaj Party are also contenders.
The voter turnout for the 90-seat Haryana assembly was 67.90 per cent.
In Jammu and Kashmir, exit polls indicated that a Congress-National Conference alliance may emerge victorious, with NC anticipated to win the majority of seats, while the BJP is expected to increase its previous seat count.
The election was held in three phases in Jammu and Kashmir, with a voter turnout of 63.45 per cent, slightly lower than the 65.52 per cent seen in the 2014 elections.
Once a dominant political force in Jammu and Kashmir, the People’s Democratic Party is predicted to struggle.
In five reserved seats, the BJP decided to let the lieutenant governor of the UT appoint members, which led to a massive outcry as the party was accused of trying to subvert democracy.