Counting in Haryana, J&K today

Chandigarh : A day ahead of the counting of ballots in the polling for the 90-member Haryana Assembly for which elections were conducted in a single phase on October 5, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as well as its principal opposition Congress sounded confident of their respective victory. The process of counting will commence at 8 a.m. on Tuesday. A majority of Exit Polls predicted the Congress would wrest power from the BJP in Haryana after remaining in opposition for 10 years. The Congress, which carried a high-decibel campaign under former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, is predicted to win 49-55 seats in the 90-member House. The majority mark for a party to form the government is 46.

However, predicting a historic win for the third consecutive term, Chief Minister and BJP candidate from Ladwa Assembly seat, Nayab Singh Saini, said they do not need any alliance as they would form the government on their own. A day before the counting of votes in Jammu and Kashmir, all procedural formalities have been completed to ensure smooth, fair and flawless counting of votes on Tuesday, said officials here, adding that security has been enhanced.