Today’s Big Stories
States of play: No landslide but BJP-Shiv Sena set to retain Maharashtra; Haryana is a cliffhanger
Maharashtra threw up a few surprises while Haryana turned a roller coaster as votes were counted on Thursday for Assembly polls in the two BJP-held states. Analysts said local grievances transcended Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity as well as the ruling party’s “nationalism" and “Kashmir" narratives even as regional players loomed as kingmakers, and even possible "kings".
It now remains to be seen who the JJP's Dushyant Singh Chautala chooses in Haryana and if the Shiv Sena will throw a googly potentially clipping the BJP's hold in Maharashtra.
Cliffhanger in Haryana: In what proved to be a cliffhanger, Haryana on Thursday threw up a hung Assembly, as the ruling BJP emerged as the single largest party with 40 seats, six short of the halfway mark needed to form the next government.
While Congress put up a resurgent performance, winning 31 seats it was debutant Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) led by Dushyant Chautala of the Chautala dynasts in the state, which turned heads as it won 10 seats.
Blow to BJP: The BJP's final tally came as a disappointment for a party which had won all 10 parliamentary seats in the Lok Sabha polls earlier this year and predicted that it will cross 75 seats this time in the legislative assembly. Surprisingly, eight of the 10 ministers fielded by the BJP lost.
Muted win in Maharashtra: Although the BJP tally didn’t register as many votes as the 2014 elections in Maharashtra, it is set to form the government in alliance with the Shiv Sena. However, several analysts and even a former CM ruminated over “interesting possibilities" which could see the Sena, NCP, and Congress align to upset the BJP’s applecart.
Read about the three scenarios that could emerge from Maharashtra.
Satrap Power: In Maharashtra, the fight against the BJP-Shiv Sena combine was led by Sharad Pawar. Sumit Pande writes about how the Maratha strongman was the last man standing as he did not give up even in the face of a mass exodus from NCP-Congress to Sena and BJP.
Bypoll battle: Results of the byelection to Assembly and Lok Sabha seats across 17 states and 1 union territory also threw up some surprises. In Satara, the BJP candidate Udayanraje Bhosale, a descendant of Chhatrapati Shivaji and a turncoat from NCP lost to Nationalist Congress Party Shriniwas Patil.
It seems that NCP chief Sharad Pawar's last rally in the constituency, when it rained heavily, which trumped.
In Kerala’s Vattiyoorkkav, the man of impossible missions, VK Prasanth won over all odds by defeating UDF candidate K Mohan Kumar and NDA candidate S Suresh in the right-wing bastion.
What next: With 2 Independent MLAs (out of the 8) Independent MLAs signing over to the BJP camp, it now remains to be seen which way Dushyant Chautala’s party will swing in Haryana.
The 10 JJP MLAs will be meeting over the decision today in Delhi. Congress top brass will also be meeting to mull over the results in the two states as the BJP is set to hold an all-important meeting with incumbent CM Manohar Lal Khattar.
On Reel
What were the 5 factors that defined the nail-biting 2019 Haryana elections? CNN-News 18's Uday Singh Rana explains.
Curated and compiled by Angana Chakrabarti
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