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Haryana set for saffron sweep

Exit polls give BJP 66 to 80 of the 90 Assembly seats; Congress has been placed at a distant second position

NEW DELHI
The BJP is poised to make a comeback in Haryana, bagging more than three-fourth of the 90 Assembly seats, with the Congress placed at a distant second, according to exit polls on Monday after the end of polling.



The Times Now exit poll has given the BJP 71 seats, with the Congress at a distant 11, while the Jan Ki Bat has given the BJP 57, and Congress 17, with 16 for other parties.

News X has given the BJP the highest number of seats at 77, with Congress at 11, and others at two. However, ATV9 Bharatvarsh has given the ruling party a much lower figure, of just over half the seats at 47, and the Congress at 23, and others at 20.

The Poll of Polls has given the BJP 63, with Congress at 16 and others at 11.

As many as 1,169 candidates, including 105 women of various political outfits, contested the election in Haryana.

Prominent figures fighting elections include Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, JJP’s Dushyant Chautala and INLD’s Abhay Singh Chautala.

The BJP, led by Khattar, has set a target of winning 75 seats, while the Congress is hoping to make a comeback following a change in guard in the state.

In 2014, the BJP had won 47 seats in Haryana, followed by INLD’s 19 and 15 of the Congress

The less than one-year-old Jannayak Janata Party (JJP), a breakaway faction of Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), seems to have performed well in its first Assembly elections in Haryana.

The JJP is headed by Ajay Chautala, former deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal’s grandson, who had a bitter split with his father and former four-time Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala and brother Abhay Chautala, leading to his parting ways in December 2018.


Virk most honest man in BJP: Rahul’s jibe

Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Monday took potshots at BJP MLA Bakshish Singh Virk calling him “the most honest man in the BJP” after he was caught on video saying that no matter what button the voters pressed, every vote would go to his party.

EC issued a show-cause notice to Virk and appointed a special observer.

Rahul posted the video on Twitter and captioned it ‘the most honest man in the BJP’.

The video shows Virk addressing a public meeting in Assandh in Haryana, saying, “Press any button, the vote will go to BJP.” Virk, however, dismissed the video as fake.


Clashes, minor EVM glitches reported

CHANDIGARH A woman was injured as clash took place between two groups outside a polling booth in Malaaka village in Nuh district in Haryana’s Mewat on Monday, a senior police official said.

Another senior police official said, “Minor technical snags were reported in EVMs at 15 places in the state and teams were rushed to rectify the faults.” He said minor scuffles among supporters of different political parties were reported from Dabwali in Sirsa Uchana Kalan in Jind. JJP candidate Dushyant Chautala claimed he was attacked and pushed aside.


65% voter turnout recorded

CHANDIGARH Haryana recorded a turnout of 65 per cent for 90 constituencies in the Assembly elections by 6 pm on Monday, the Election Commission said. However, the final figure would be available once the data is tabulated, officials said.

According to the Election Commission in Delhi, 65 per cent of the registered voters exercised their franchise by 6 pm, when polling closed. People who entered the polling booths before the closing time, would be allowed to cast their vote, officials said.

In the 2014 assembly elections, 76.54 per cent voters in Haryana had exercised their franchise. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the voting percentage was 70.36.

Haryana’s Chief Electoral Officer Anurag Agarwal said 19,578 polling stations were set up, 13,837 of them in rural areas.

Tight security arrangements were in place with over 75,000 security personnel deployed for the polls, DGP Manoj Yadava said earlier. Over 1.83 crore voters, including 85 lakh women, were eligible to vote. The figure includes over one lakh service voters and 252 transgenders. PTI



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