Modi effect: Saffron party wins record 47 seats in Haryana; emerges as single largest party in Maharashtra
Mumbai/Chandigarh: The BJP on Sunday created history in Haryana by getting a clear majority on its own for the first time and said that it would form the government in Maharashtra too where it finished the single largest group in a hung assembly but has been offered support by the NCP.
The Congress was humiliated in both Haryana and Maharashtra which it had been ruling for two and three consecutive terms respectively.
For the first time, the Bharatiya Janata Party got a clear mandate in Haryana, winning 47 seats in the 90-member assembly with a 33.2 per cent vote share.
The BJP Parliamentary Party Board met in New Delhi on Sunday evening to discuss chief minister probables for Haryana and Maharashtra. The party later announced it would send senior leaders Rajnath Singh to Maharashtra and Venkaiah Naidu to Haryana to take a decision on the chief ministerial candidates.
Briefing reporters after the meeting, general secretary J.P. Nadda said he would accompany Rajnath Singh.
On the offer of support from the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party, Nadda said no call has been taken yet.
Senior party sources informed that the new government could be sworn in before Diwali this week.
In Maharashtra, the BJP won 122 seats in the 288-member assembly, falling well short of the 145 seats required for a simple majority. Its ally Rashtriya Samaj Paksha won one.
With the NCP, which won 41 seats, offering BJP “outside support”, leaving the runner up and former ally Shiv Sena high and dry, BJP president Amit Shah said in New Delhi that his party would “form the next government” in the state.
NCP leader Praful Patel said Maharashtra needed stability and so his party was ready to prop up a BJP government.
The Shiv Sena, which ended up with 63 seats, had earlier said it was ready to make up with the BJP, a sentiment shared by some of the latter’s leaders, including L.K. Advani, one of those who was not happy with the decision to dump its ally of 25 long years after a row over seat sharing ahead of elections.
The Congress, which, with the NCP, ruled Maharashtra for 15 years until their alliance collapsed before the elections, finished third with 42 seats.
Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena cut a sorry figure and is likely to end up with just three seats. Independents and smaller parties could have 19 members. The Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) made an impressive debut winning two seats.
The BJP’s win in Haryana is a big achievement considering it had won only four seats in the 2009 assembly polls. The Congress won only 15 seats, down from its tally of 40 last time. The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) ended with 19 seats, down from 31 seats in 2009.
A record 76.54 per cent of Haryana’s 1.63 crore electorate voted in the assembly polls this time, while around 64 per cent of the 8.35 crore electorate turned out in Maharashtra. (IANS)