Counting of votes for Haryana assembly elections began at 8 am on Tuesday morning, October 8 and the state voted on October 5, with early trends showing the Congress slightly ahead of the ruling BJP.
While writing this report, some TV reports showed the Congress ahead on 46 seats and the BJP 23. Current Chief Minister of Haryana Nayab Singh Saini was leading from his Ladwa seta in Kurukshetra district. Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda was ahead of his rivals in Garhi Sampla-Kiloi constituency in Rohtak district.
Om Prakash Dhankar, BJP candidate from Badli, said, "We are awaiting grand results. It will be clear in the afternoon that we are forming the government. Everyone makes claims, but results will tell us whose claims are true."
"Exit Polls are sometimes correct, sometimes wrong. In Chhattisgarh, as per the polls Congress government was being formed there but it was BJP that formed the government there," he added.
Several exit polls have predicted a Congress victory in Haryana which recorded a voter turnout of 67.90 per cent. However, the BJP has claimed it will return to power for a third consecutive term. The key parties and alliances in the fray are the BJP, the Congress, the Aam Aadmi Party, INLD-BSP and JJP-Azad Samaj Party. However, most seats will see a direct fight between the BJP and the Congress.
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Congress candidate from Jhajjar, Geeta Bhukkal said, "The manner in which people of Jhajjar constituency have given their blessings and support, I hope to win with a thumping majority from here. Congress will form the government in Haryana. Exit polls are in favour of Congress but I think these are not 'Exact Polls', we will win with an even higher number of seats. Congress fought elections on issues..."
"I think whatever the results are, it is clear that this is a victory of EVM, Election Commission and India's democratic traditions. I hope that those who were celebrating after seeing the exit polls will not blame EVM after seeing the exact polls. Our government has been formed twice in Haryana and is going to be formed for the third time... In both places, the BJP is going to form the government with a clear majority, this shows how people have expressed faith in the work of BJP," said BJP leader Shehzad Poonawalla.
Haryana's Chief Electoral Officer, Pankaj Agarwal, said three-tier security arrangements were in place at counting venues. He said a day earlier that postal ballots will be counted first, followed by the counting of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) beginning 30 minutes later.
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A total of 1,031 candidates, including 464 Independents and 101 women, are in the fray on Haryana's 90 constituencies which voted in a single phase on October 5.