Haryana and Maharashtra Government Formation Updates: Incumbent chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar said that their mandate was accepted and the swearing-in ceremony will take place on Sunday at 2.15 pm.
Along with Khattar, JJP chief Dushyant Chautala will also take oath as Deputy chief minister on Sunday, Governor Satyadeo Narain Arya told reporters after the meeting.
The BJP was not aware about any equal power sharing deal being proposed by the Shiv Sena, said Union Minister and senior party leader Raosaheb Danve.
"After Diwali, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will discuss the issue of formation of government with Uddhavji," PTI reported him as saying.
A total of 57 MLAs — 40 of the BJP, 10 of the JJP and seven Independents — staked claim before the governor for forming the government in Haryana, PTI reported Manohar Lal Khattar as saying.
Earlier, Khattar and his cabinet colleagues submitted their resignations to the governor, which were accepted. The governor asked Khattar to continue as the interim chief minister till the new government took over. Khattar said some ministers would take oath on Sunday. He, however, did not specify the number.
In the 90-member Haryana Assembly, a minimum strength of 46 MLAs is required to form the government
Ajay Chautala, father of Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) chief Dushyant Chautala, has been granted parole for two weeks.
Ajay is lodged in the jail after conviction in a teacher recruitment scam along with his father and former chief minister Om Prakash Chautala. His wife Naina Chautala, winner from the Badhra Assembly seat, is likely to be appointed as the deputy chief minister of Haryana, according to party sources in Chandigarh.
Seeking chief ministerial post for at least two and half years in a five-year term, Shiv Sena leader Pratap Sarnaik was quoted by CNN-News18 as saying that the BJP should provide a written assurance about the 50:50 formula.
"We have decided that the BJP should give us in writing about their proposal. Senior leader like Amit Shah should give.in writing. We want 50-50 formula, including a 2.5 years term for Shiv Sena CM."
Responding to questions about speculations of BJP appointing more than one deputy chief minister, Ravi Shankar Prasad clarified that it was up to the chief minister-elect to finalise his team, but as of now we have decided to go with just one chief minister. Earlier there were media reports speculating that the BJP will go for two deputy chief minister posts to accommodate JJP and aspirants among Independents and its own rank and file.
Media reports are quoting Raj Bhawan sources to report that Manohar Lal Khattar will take oath tomorrow for his second consecutive term as Haryana chief minister. CNN-News18 reported that for now, only Khattar and the JJP chief Dushyant Chautala will be sworn in tomorrow. However, there is no official word on the same. A final date and time will be officially announced by the Raj Bhawan after Khattar has staked claim to form government and Chautala has submitted a letter expressing his support to the BJP.
After the Jannayak Janata Party clinched an alliance with the BJP on Friday late evening, JJP chief Dushyant Chautala received criticism on social media with netizens expressing their dissatisfaction with the decision of the breakaway party of Indian National Lok Dal (INLD).
Accusing Chautala of playing with "people's emotions and trust" , one user said that Assembly polls 2019 was the last stint for the JJP chief as he wouldn't win a single seat in the next election.
Some even said that the coalition government formed was a lesson for Indian voters. The Twitter handle went onto explain that voters should only elect candidates either from the BJP or the Congress as newly emerged parties or Independent candidates tend to "sell" trust votes after election concludes.
Flanked by Manohar Lal Khattar and JJP chief Dushyant Chautala, Home Minister Amit Shah announced that BJP-JJP will make the next government in Haryana. "BJP leader will be new Chief Minister and leader from JJP will be deputy chief minister," announced Shah. He further added that the leaders from both the parties will meet the Governor tomorrow (Saturday) and stake their claim to form the government in the state.
Dushyant Chautala said that it was important for the BJP and JJP to come together to give a stable government to Haryana. "Our party had decided that for the betterment of the state, it is important to have a stable government," he said.
Responding to the demands posed by Janata Jannayak Party (JJP) leader Dushyant Chautala in a press conference earlier on Friday, Congress' Bhupinder Singh Hooda said that the conditional demands sought by Chautala to extend support were already a party of the party's common minimum programme. Meanwhile, BJP working president JP Nadda, Haryana BJP chief Subhash Barala and Manohar Lal Khattar reached Amit Shah's residence in Delhi.
Sources have told CNN-News18 that the JJP is likely to ally with the BJP, with a formal announcement to confirm the same to be done tonight. The JJP has also demanded the deputy chief minister's post for Dushyant Chautala and two ministerial berths in the Haryana cabinet. Congress will not pursue Dushyant Chautala-led Janata Jannayak Party for forming an alliance in Haryana anymore, sources added. Sources further said that the news Haryana cabinet will be constituted post Diwali.
Shiv Sena leader Priyanka Chaturvedi, took to Twitter to raise questions over the BJP government's decision of taking, rape accused, Gopal Kanda's support. Shiv Sena is currently a major ally of the BJP government in Maharashtra.
Karnataka Congress has hits out at the BJP on Twitter over Haryana Lokhit Party's (HLP) MLA Gopal Kanda extending his support to the party, who was once accused of raping one of his employees.
National General Secretary of BJP has said that a meeting of the legislative party will be held at 11 am tomorrow in Chandigarh. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman and General Secy Arun Singh will be there as observers. "Leader of legislative party will be elected tomorrow," he said. He, however, remained elusive about the controversy raging over Sirsa MLA Gopal Kanda, who was once accused of raping one of his employees. "We have spoken to people who have offered their support to us. We have to discuss with our senior leaders about the way forward", reports News18.
BJP leader and former Union minister Uma Bharti has a word of advice for party top brass currently in negotiations with Independents to install the Khattar government in Haryana. Bharti, in a series of tweets, has urged the leadership to shun Gopal Kanda's support saying that winning polls doesn't make him innocent. I would request @ BJP4India ji not to forget our moral fabric," she says in a tweet and further writes, Our government must be formed in Haryana, but decide that the people like @ BJP4India have a clean life, so should the people who are allying with us."
BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya has said that all the BJP rebels who had filed nomination as Independents have returned to the party folds. He also said that Haryana Lokhit Party (HLP) chief Gopal Kanda has also extended unconditional support to BJP.
MLA from Sirsa, Gopal Kanda, who is also emerging as a key player in government formation, says that all the Independents have pledged support to the BJP camp. "Country is progressing with the Modi government, all the Independent MLAs have decided to support the BJP without any conditions."
Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) leader Dushyant Chautala will hold a press conference at 4 pm today.
Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar leaves for Delhi. Khattar has cancelled his meeting with Governor that was scheduled for today morning. The Bharatiya Janata Party is watching developments unfold in Haryana, while its leaders are scrambling to hold backchannel talks with rebels who contested and Independents to retain power. Meanwhile, the party has sent feelers to Dushyant Chautala's debutante party JJP, which bagged ten seats in this election.
In Maharashtra, the situation is less precarious as the Sena had agreed for a pre-poll alliance, but still the Maratha party which was playing coy ahead of polls has now regained its voice and is now pushing for a split term between Sena and BJP chief ministers. The BJP will remain watchful of which way the wind blows.
In Haryana, the Congress party is scrambling to pull a Karnataka on BJP and collect the support of Independents and JJP before BJP beats them to it. The first step in this regard is that Bhupendra Singh Hooda will fly to Delhi today, to meet Sonia Gandhi, the high command of the Congress party. Meanwhile, Devendra Fadnavis is not too upset about the fall in BJP's tally in Maharashtra this time as he has found his silver lining. The outgoing Maha CM is content with the fact that the BJP secured a much better strike rate than it did in 2014, considering it was contesting only 150 seats this time.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi begun speaking at the BJP headquarters in Delhi.
The prime minister earlier took to Twitter, saying he was humbled to have got people's support yet again in Maharashtra. The prime minister also thanked people of Haryana for "blessing us" and added that "we will continue to work with same zeal and dedication for state's progress".
Even as the BJP and Shiv Sena find themselves pulling away from the Opposition in Maharashtra, tensions between the uneasy alliance may be rising with Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray saying the party "cannot continue to be accommodative anymore" with regard to the BJP and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis saying "we are not those who bargain."
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, addressing the media, thanked the people of Maharashtra for giving the BJP a "clear mandate."
In Haryana, all eyes on are on Dushyant Chautala's JJP which has won 6 seats and could easily emerge as the kingmaker. The BJP and Congress have won 14 and 10 seats respectively in the state which is heading towards a hung Assembly.
As per ECI data, BJP and Shiv Sena received the highest vote share in the Maharashtra with 25.25 percent and 17.07 percent respectively. NCP is in third place with 16.81 percent of the vote share while the Congress has received 15.69 percent of the vote share.
As per Election Commission data, in Haryana the BJP has won 8 seats and is leading in 30. The Congress has won 7 seats and the JJP, whose president Dushyant Chautala has scripted an unlikely comeback, has secured 7 seats.
Haryana Assembly elections seem to be heading somewhere rather unexpected and the key to who wins lies in the hand of 31-year-old Dushyant Chautala, president of Jannayak Janata Party
Deepender Hooda, son of former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and former Congress MP had on 19 October tweeted foretelling that Haryana will teach Khattar government a lesson. "Mere iss tweet ko save karna. Haryana Khattar sarkar ke ghamand ko todne ja raha hai (Save this tweet of mine. Haryana is going to shatter Khattar government's arrogance)," Hooda had tweeted.
BJP has got a reality check in Maharashtra elections. In 2019 Lok Sabha elections, BJP managed to win 23 of 48 seats in Maharashtra but as of Thursday afternoon according to the Election Commission's website BJP has won in five seats and is leading in 97 seats much lower than the 122 seats that it had won in the 2014 state elections. The BJP leadership’s hopes of crossing the halfway mark in the 288-seater Assembly on its own do not appear to have been realised — at least as per the initial results.
Addressing his first press conference since the results in the Maharashtra elections became clearer after the initial trends, NCP chief Sharad Pawar said that the results are a proof that people don't like arrogance of power. "When you detach yourself from ground then people do not welcome it. Many leaders crossed their limits to make statements in campaign."
Amid neck-and-neck contest in Haryana, where the exit polls have proved to be horribly off the mark, BJP is struggling to meet the majority mark, as Congress and JJP are racing ahead. Addressing the media, former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said that the Congress is inviting JJP leaders and Independent candidates to form a 'united front' against the BJP in state. "Time has come for Congress, JJP and Independents to form a strong Haryana government," said Hooda as initial trends indicate a hung assembly in state.
Several reports have confirmed that NCP leader Ajit Pawar has won from Baramati constituency by 1,11,000 votes. However, Election Commission has not officially announced any winners as of now. Meanwhile, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is leading over his nearest Congress rival Ashish Deshmukh by 11,134 votes in Nagpur-South West seat.
State BJP chief and revenue minister Chandrakant Patil leading over MNS nominee Kishore Shinde by 8,888 votes in Kothrud. BJP minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil leading over his Congress rival Suresh Thorat by 49,356 votes in Shirdi.
As the contest in Haryana gets tighter, political parties have started going in a huddle. As the initial numbers started trickling in, it is becoming clear that the BJP might not be able to clinch the 75+ seats as it claimed ahead of 21 October polls. While BJP is leading in 41 seats, Congress is leading in 28 and JJP in 10 seats. Amid heavy speculation of a possibility of a hung assembly, incumbent chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar has been summoned to Delhi by BJP leadership. Meanwhile, Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee President Kumari Selja met with party leader Ahmed Patel in Delhi today.
JJP chief Dushyant Chautala has denied having any discussions with BJP or Congress. Various media channels have reported that Congress has reached out to Chautala to keep BJP at bay. "I have not had any discussions with anyone. The decision will be taken only after the final numbers are out," Dushyant Chautala said, ANI reports.
The decision to field three sport icons taken by the BJP is reaping benefits as all of them are currently leading in their respective seats in Haryana. Babita Kumari Phogat is leading on her Dadri seat with 31 percent vote share while Yogeshwar Dutt is leading in the Baroda constituency with 34 percent vote share and Sandeep Singh, from Pehowa is leading also with 34 percent vote share.
As BJP-Shiv Sena clinched a comfortable lead as early trends trickled in Maharashtra, Sena leader Sanjay Raut said, "BJP and Shiv Sena will form the government. No doubt. We will have a discussion with Uddhav Thackeray and responsibility will be shared equally between BJP and Sena." Meanwhile, Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar has been reportedly summoned to Delhi.
BJP is struggling to meet the majority mark in Haryana as initial trends point at a hung Assembly. BJP seems to be falling short of its “75-plus seats” target in Haryana. While Congress is leading on 26 seats, BJP is ahead on 43 seats. Newly-formed JJP is ahead on 11 seats.
JJP chief Dushyant Chautala who is leading in Uchana Kalan said, the party will emerge as a "key" to Haryana elections. Key is the party symbol of JJP. "Haryana has already locked its future in EVMs. Trends are coming out. Each and every party worker's hard work will show. Haryana will change today. I can say one thing with confidence that Haryana's Vidhan Sabha's key will be in JJP's hands," he said.
The BJP-Shiv Sena combine has taken a comfortable lead in Maharashtra, where it leads in 177 seats in the 288-member Assembly. The Congress-NCP alliance leads in 87 seats in Maharashtra. Other candidates lead in 14 seats. After eight rounds of counting, Ajit Pawar of the Nationalist Congress Party is leading with 58,483 votes in Baramati.
The BJP and the Shiv Sena are leading in a big way ahead of the Congress-NCP combine in Maharashtra. The BJP is leading in 107 seats, while the Sena is up in 70 at the moment. Following a lot of turbulence in their alliance over the last five years, the parties are likely to return to power for another term.
After two hours of counting, BJP-Shiv Sena has crossed the halfway majority mark in Maharashtra. Early trends suggests Haryana is heading towards a hung assembly where the INLD and JJP are expected to play a crucial role. However, both the parties are very unlikely to form a coalition with another single party. Speaking to the media, Dushyant Chautala, JJP leader, in a brief interaction, said that the JJP would be the kingmaker and referred to the party as the key to open the lock of power of Haryana politics.
Maintaining their initial leads, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar from in Karnal, JJP leader Dushyant Singh Chautala in Uchana Kalan, wrestler Babita Phogat fighting on BJP ticket in Dadri and former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Chautala in Garhi Sampla-Kiloi are ahead as the counting of votes continues.
Aaditya Thackeray is leading in his Worli constituency. With the Sena scion fast consolidating his position, Shiv Sena says that the party wishes to make Aditya Thackeray the CM. "The difference between the last polls and this is that the we are doing well," Sanjay Gupta, a Sena leader said.
The BJP has taken a wide lead in early trends in Haryana, leading in 53 of the state's 90 Assembly seats. The Congress is up in 22 seats, while other candidates are ahead in eight. The BJP's comfortable lead, as was predicted in most exit polls, will allow the party a second 5-year term.
Early trends reveal that the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance is leading in 137 seats in Maharashtra's 288-member Assembly. The Congress-NCP are up in 51 seats, while the AIMIM is leading in one seat. Remember, the first hour is usually for counting postal votes — votes cast by government staffers, usually members of the defence and paramilitary forces — following which normal ballots will be opened. The trends, therefore, are really early to decode and the picture could change drastically over time.
Trends in Haryana show that BJP is leading in 18 seats, while Congress is ahead in 11 seats.After first counting, CM Manohar Lal Khattar is leading by 500 votes in Karnal.
Grand-nephew of NCP chief Sharad Pawar, Rohit Pawar is trailing in Karjat Jhamked, early trends have revealed. Ashok Chavan is leading from Bhokar. The former chief minister is battling for more than pride this time as he tries to retain his family's pocket borough, Bhokar in Nanded district.
Devendra Fadnavis is leading from Nagpur southwest, early trends suggest. Meanwhile, Shiv Sena scion Aaditya Thackeray is leading from the Worli constituency in Mumbai. Fadnavis, who is contesting from Nagpur South West is tipped to win handsome like in 2014. Recently, in a rally in Maharashtra, he stressed on the nature of one-sided fight saying, "The wrestler is ready, but no one to fight". On the other hand, moving from Sena's age old "Marathi First" outlook, Thackeray Junior reached out to different sections - Gujarati, Urdu-speaking communities in his constituency in Worli.
Counting of votes has begun across 288 constituencies in Maharashtra and 90 seats in the Haryana Assembly. The Maharashtra Assembly polls held on Monday saw a voter turnout of 61.13 percent, a dip from the 63.20 percent recorded in 2014, election officials said after polling concluded on Monday. The highest turnout, of 83.93 percent, was reported in the Karveer Assembly seat in Kolhapur, while the lowest was in south Mumbai's upmarket Colaba area at 40.11 percent.
In Maharashtra, the BJP has chosen to continue its alliance with Shiv Sena, despite their roller-coaster relationship over the last five years. The two parties had come together after a brief breakup when in 2014, neither succeeded in getting majority on its own. The Sena, since, had been a vocal critic of the BJP-led government's policies at the state and the Centre. This time, the Shiv Sena — though given fewer seats than the 50:50 division it wanted — has been offered the post of the Deputy Chief Minister in case of a victory. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will continue to helm the government, the BJP has announced.
The Maharashtra unit of BJP has made 'victory' preparations at its headquarter in Mumbai when counting of votes for the Assembly elections will be taken up. BJP leaders have ordered 5,000 'laddus' and for putting up a huge screen to see the live coverage of counting. Orders for garlands have also been placed, a party official said on Wednesday. BJP workers have been asked to reach the party headquarter located near Mantralaya or the state secretariat, in south Mumbai after 10 am on Thursday when the poll trends are expected to emerge.
The results for Maharashtra and Haryana Assembly elections will be out on Thursday (24 October) and the counting of votes will begin at 8 am on Wednesday. The counting of votes will begin at 8 am on Thursday and the result is likely to be declared by 5 pm by the Election Commission. Mostly, leads would predict the result by noon, but the counting of votes will only be completed by the evening.
The results will determine whether the ruling BJP-led NDA will retain the two key states. The results are the first electoral battle since Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA government abrogated Articles 370 and 35A in Jammu and Kashmir and divided the state into two Union Territories.
The first electoral battle since the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, these state elections will establish whether the perceived jubilation over the Modi government's decision could actually transform into votes.
Meanwhile, for Congress, which is battling infighting and a leadership crisis at the national level, this election would bring the result of its new strategy to let the regional satraps take centre stage, while the national leadership remained all but absent.
The voter turnout in both the states was low as opposed to the 2014 Assembly elections.
The Indian Express reported that while Maharashtra recorded 59 percent voting turnout, down from the 63.38 per cent logged in 2014, Haryana saw an estimated turnout of 65.67 percent, about 11 percent less than the 76.54 recorded five years ago. But despite the dismal participation in politically important states, exit polls suggest a comeback for the BJP is nearly certain.
In Maharashtra, the BJP and the Sena had won 122 and 63 seats, respectively in the 2014 elections, while Congress and NCP won 42 and 41 seats each. All four parties had contested independently in the previous Assembly elections. In Haryana, the BJP had won 47 followed by INLD’s 19 and 15 of the Congress.
With inputs from PTI
