EFEAs seats were tallied in council elections in the north Indian state of Haryana and Indian-administered Kashmir, surprises arose on Tuesday.
Most exit polls had predicted a hung assembly in Kashmir, but a coalition of the main opposition Congress and the National Conference Party (NCP ) is poised to win a clout in the 90-member house and be ready to form a government.
The Bharatiya Janata Party ( BJP), led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, upend predictions of a Congress landslide in Haryana, which also holds 90 seats. This has proved the pollsters wrong.
The BJP-led state appears set to win a unique second consecutive term in Haryana.
The elections in Kashmir are important because they are the first assembly elections that have taken place in a decade and are the first since the federal government changed the area’s former state into a federally-controlled territory in 2019.
Contrary to Kashmir, which India and its neighbor Pakistan have fought three war for, Haryana rarely makes headlines.
However, the small condition, which is located next to Delhi, as the country’s capital, attracts a lot of attention in India. The town of Gurugram is home to the practices of some of the biggest international companies, including Google, Dell, and Samsung, and it is known as the food tray of India for its big wheat and rice fields.
Since these are the primary state legislature elections since the summer legislative election, India is closely watching the results. According to experts, Tuesday’s outcomes will set the tone as the nation prepares for more local elections, including those in the state of Maharashtra and Delhi, in the coming months.
PTIBut what happened in Haryana?
Social scientist Sandeep Shastri has apparently provided the best description of what took place in the state.
” The Congress has snatched battle from the mouths of victory”, he told the BBC.
Social circles had been rife for weeks with reports that the BJP was experiencing a significant uprising against corruption, and analysts were confident that the group’s leadership was about to leave.
Some people claimed it was an election for the group to drop after the majority of post-election leave polls predicted a disaster in the Congress.
Shastri attributes party infighting and optimism to the Congress ‘ battle.
” They were convinced they may win and became careless. On the other hand, BJP successfully fought anti-incumbency to retake office and worked slowly on issues on the ground.
He claimed that both parties attempted to form interpersonal coalitions by bringing along various caste groups; the results show that the majority of voters opted to back the BJP.
According to Shastri, distinctions between Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Kumari Selja, both of whom were candidates for the position of chief minister, did not go well with the electorate.
Tuesday’s count, however, has been mired in controversy with the Congress accusing the Election Commission (EC ) of delaying updating numbers on their website.
Selja claimed her party may also emerge as president after group leader Jairam Ramesh sent a complaint notice to the Election Commission.
” I am telling you … there is something going on. If all goes well, Congress may form the government in Haryana”, she said.
That will probably continue to be a dream, even with the negative results of the statistics.
The EC has denied the claims.
ReutersNo one anticipated that Kashmir would be the BJP’s home state.
In the Muslim-majority Kashmir river, the Hindu nationalist BJP has little aid, but it enjoys great kindness in the Hindu-dominated Jammu area. And those outcomes reflect this distinction. However, the Congress-NC empire currently has much seats and is preparing to form a state government.
The Modi administration’s 2019 determination to scrap Article 370 of the law, which granted special position to Kashmir, and create the condition into two sent ripples around the river, which elects 47 assemblage chairs.
At his plan demonstrations, Modi had promised to restore the state’s” statehood”. But as the effects show, that failed to placate unhappy citizens.
Although there was a remarkably large turnout, they were voting against the BJP and the withdrawal of the state’s special status, according to political scientist Sheikh Showkat Hussain.
The BJP used this vote as a sort of vote on its opposition to Article 370. But, people voted in favour of the walk taken by the local functions”, he said.
Noor Mohammad Baba, another political analyst in Kashmir, says the results reveal that the BJP’s “policies were n’t popular” in the region.
The outcome sends a text to Delhi that they need to change their policies toward Jammu and Kashmir, he continued.
The People’s Democratic Party’s ( PDP ), led by former Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, performed poorly in the election, which is a surprising outcome.
Mufti, who earlier ruled in partnership with the BJP, has managed to win just three tickets.
Responding to a comment about her group’s poor performance, she said it was the “people’s option”.
” Winning or losing is a part of politics. People believe that the BJP may remain at bay and that the Congress and National Conference will establish a stable state. We regard their verdict”, she added.
Auqib Javeed provided further reporting in Srinagar.