The final votes are being cast in Haryana and it will soon be time to find out what the exit polls have predicted for the state as well as the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
It is a largely bipolar contest in Haryana and an important one both for the BJP, which is looking to form a government in the state for the third straight time and the Congress, which is hoping to make a comeback.
The BJP won only five of the state’s 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana after sweeping all of them in 2019 and these Assembly elections are an opportunity for the party to prove that it remains popular with voters after failing – for the first time in 10 years – to achieve a majority on its own in the general elections.
In the Lok Sabha elections, the other five constituencies in Haryana were won by the Congress, which believes it is in a strong position to form the government in the state this time.
The 2019 Assembly elections had seen the BJP winning 40 of the state’s 90 seats, the Congress 31 and the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) 10. The BJP had formed the government with the support of the JJP and Dushyant Chautala became the deputy chief minister. The alliance ended after the BJP replaced Manohar Lal Khattar with Nayab Singh Saini as the chief minister in March.
Jammu and Kashmir also has 90 seats and it voted in its first Assembly elections since 2014, first as a Union Territory and first after the removal of Article 370, which gave the erstwhile state special status.
Statehood has been a major issue in the elections and its restoration has been promised by the BJP – including by PM Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah – as well as the Congress and the National Conference, which contested the polls in an alliance.
Another major player is Mehbooba Mufti’s Peoples Democratic Party and other parties include Abdul Ghani Lone’s People’s Conference, Ghulam Nabi Azad’s Democratic Progressive Azad Party and Altaf Bukhari’s Apni Party. An interesting development in these elections was the entry of the banned Jamaat-e-Islami, which backed some candidates, and its strategic alliance with Engineer Rashid’s Awami Ittehad Party.
The counting of votes will be held on October 8.