The results of the Assembly elections in Maharashtra and Haryana will be announced today. More than 10 crore voters were on the electoral rolls to elect 378 MLAs in the two states — 90 in Haryana and 288 in Maharashtra. Earlier this week, our ground reporters in both states noted that it looks like a clean sweep for the BJP, and the exit polls agreed.
The results of by-elections in 51 Assembly seats and two Lok Sabha constituencies across 17 states and one Union Territory will also be announced today.
4 pm
Here’s an update on Maharashtra from the Election Commission website. The BJP has won 19 seats and leads in 80, and the Shiv Sena has won 14 and leads in 43. The Congress has won 13 and leads in 31, while the NCP has won 10 and leads in 45.
3.38 pm
Time for a Haryana update from the Election Commission website. The BJP has won 13 seats and leads in 25. The Congress has won 10 and leads in 24. The JJP has won 5 and leads in 5.
3.35 pm
Meanwhile, on the Rashtriya Janata Dal Twitter handle…
3.18 pm
The RSS blames the “economic slowdown” and the lack of regional leadership for the BJP’s performance in the Assembly polls, Hindustan Times reports.
3.15 pm
“Congress workers have walked that extra mile. This is the golden period of our relationship,” says Supriya Sule while talking of the NCP-Congress partnership.
“BJP will not get a majority. There will be a hung Assembly. Once that happens we know what comes next: trading for votes,” says INLD leader Abhay Chautala.
2.45 pm
The BJP’s state chief in Haryana, Subhash Barala, tells ANI the news of his resignation is a “rumour”.
2.28 pm
According to the Election Commission website, the BJP leads in 38 seats in Haryana and has won 1. The Congress leads in 33. The JJP has won 4 seats and leads in 6.
2.26 pm
The panellist on Republic Bharat tells Arnab: “Agar Haryana mein Bhajpa sarkar banti hai toh iska shrey aapke channel ko jayega kyuki Haryana ki janta ne Bhajpa no nakar diya hai (If BJP forms the govt in Haryana then all the credit will go to your channel because the people of Haryana have rejected the BJP).”
2.21 pm
The BJP spokesperson on Republic says: “Jaise heroin ka desperation hota hai waise Bhupinder Hooda ko desperation hai.” The Congress spokesperson says, “Aap humein nashedi keh rahe hai?”
2.13 pm
Breaking news on Sudarshan TV. Dushyant Chautala tells BJP: “Make me the CM and we will have an alliance.”
2.08 pm
Clashes occur between Shiv Sena and Congress workers in Mumbai.
Shiv Sena loses its stronghold in Bandra where the Thackeray family’s house Matoshree is located.
Deepinder Hooda is talking to the media. Someone in the background is screaming, “Don’t record this! It’s off record! He is talking off record!”
Aaj Tak continues recording and transmitting anyway.
1.45 pm
On Aaj Tak, a factory siren blares in the background whenever a seat is announced, getting the anchor very excited while rattling off the news.
1.41 pm
Dushyant Chautala tells Times Now he wants to thank Haryana for voting for a party that’s only existed for 11 months, and it’s too early to discuss the party’s future course.
He also says the first phone call he’s taken today is from Times Now. The anchor looks very pleased.
1.40 pm
Meanwhile on Sudarshan TV, Uttar Pradesh’s Mukhyamantri Samuhik Vivah Yojana is being advertised under which thousands of underprivileged girls get the “golden” opportunity to get married. Next comes an ad for “Deepotsav in Ayodhya aka Ramnagri” where 5.51 lakh diyas are going to be lit on October 26…
1.35 pm
NCP chief Sharad Pawar addresses the media, says voters rejected those who switched parties before the election. He says Maharashtra “rejected the arrogance of power of the BJP and Shiv Sena”, Scroll reports.
1.25 pm
Zee News has excellent Haryana-themed graphics. Take a look.
1.24 pm
Updates from the Election Commission website: in Haryana, the BJP and Congress are both leading in 35 seats each.
1.21 pm
Former Congress CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda says the people’s mandate is against BJP this time. He announces an open invitation to all non-BJP parties to form an alliance with the Congress in Haryana.
Aaj Tak‘s graphics has Modi and Sonia Gandhi riding in on cows.
1.20 pm
Breaking news on NDTV: the Haryana BJP chief, Subhash Barala, has quit.
1.15 pm
On Zee News, the BJP spokesperson from Maharashtra says one of the reasons the BJP is not doing as well as expected is because the polling day happened to be on a holiday. Due to this, the spokesperson says, a lot of youngsters were missing.
12.56 pm
Some quick results from the Election Commission website: in Haryana, the BJP is leading in 36 seats, the Congress in 35, and the JJP in 10.
12.54 pm
On India Today, Rajdeep Sardesai, Rahul Kanwal and Pradeep Gupta from Axis My India are eating chocolates to celebrate the success of their exit poll. “It’s a pre-Diwali celebration!”
12.51 pm
Times Now has a reporter outside Khattar’s residence. His report: “You can see there is a cavalcade being set up. Media is not being allowed inside. He’ll leave anytime by chopper now. Chopper will take off soon.”
Anchor back in the studio, “Lots of activity going on right now.”
12.45 pm
Republic has breaking news: “HOODA LIKELY TO FLY TO DELHI”. We’re waiting to see visuals of magnificent wings sprouting out of Hooda any moment now.
12.40 pm
On Republic, Sudhanshu Trivedi of the BJP says, “We are disappointed that the results didn’t meet our expectations but we’re still the single largest party…”
“Do you admit defeat?” asks a panellist.
“Arre, what are you saying…I just told you single largest…”
“DO YOU ADMIT DEFEAT! TELL ME STRAIGHT!” repeats the panellist.
12.28 pm
CNN-News18 explains its “Live Result Hub” saying other TV channels “fluctuate, inflate or reverse” their numbers but “we are confident ours is the only accurate result”.
12.25 pm
On Republic, one panellist tries to express an opinion on BJP’s performance but is immediately cut off by Arnab, “Only news. Stay on the news. Only breaking news. I’ll do analysis at night!” The analysts on the panel seem disappointed, to put it mildly.
“Dushyant ki mummy jeet rahi hai,” screams a reporter. “Dushyant ki maa jeet rahi hai,” repeats another.
12.18 pm
Republic TV flashes breaking news: “CONG DISCUSSES OPTIONS.” One person on the panel breathlessly recites what phone calls are being made and who is talking to who right now. “There is a game going on!” says the panellist.
12.14 pm
“This is Modi’s failure,” says one panellist on Times Now. Navika retorts, “Why are you making such simplistic arguments? Why is should Modi be held responsible for this result? Isn’t this a simplistic argument?”
The BJP spokesperson says it’s still too early to call the elections: “The BJP will get majority.”
Navika asks, “But what if you don’t get the majority? Who all are you calling? Are the phones of JJP ringing? Are leaders being rushed to Delhi, sir?”
12.12 pm
On CNN-News18, the editor of Firstpost, BV Rao, says, “We’ve been spectacularly wrong in our assessment of this election, that this is one-sided…The voter has a different script.”
12.06 pm
BJP is leading in the Uttar Pradesh bypolls. Navika asks the pro-Congress panellists, “Here there is no rural urban divide or what? Nothing here?”She gets no real response.
India Today returns to applauding its exit poll with Rajdeep Sardesai calling their psephologist “their own Rohit Sharma”.
12 pm
Amusing conversation ongoing on Times Now. One panelist says Modi’s popularity has gone down. Another says, “Today is Ekadashi, at least don’t lie today, sir!”Followed by laughter and lots of screaming.
11.50 am
Rajdeep Sardesai says there is a difference between a “hung assembly” and a “badly hung assembly”. Below 40 seats for any party will be very problematic, he says, and should be considered badly hung.
11.47 am
Rajdeep Sardesai asks BJP spokesperson Amit Malviya if the party would be willing to “sacrifice” the CM position in Haryana if there’s a hung Assembly. Malviya says, “There’s not going to be a situation of that kind…It has become a tight contest, not to our expectation.” But he says the party is “very confident” of going past the halfway mark.
11.45 am
News18 reports that the Akali Dal’s Balvinder Singh Bhunder says, “We will try our best that Congress doesn’t form govt in Haryana. We have always supported BJP. Cong has never been on side of Sikhs.”
11.40 am
On India Today, Rahul Kanwal says, “The Opposition may have won a moral victory but at the end of the day it’s only a moral victory.” He points out that the channel’s exit poll was “bang on”.
11.23 am
Kumari Selja, the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee president, says the state has given its “verdict” and is ready to “embrace a new dawn” under the leadership of the Congress.
11.19 am
On Aaj Tak, Anjana Om Kashyap suggests the Congress can form government in Maharashtra if they make Shiv Sena their ally.
11.16 am
On Zee News, Shiv Sena leader Manohar Joshi says the CM of Maharashtra will be from the Shiv Sena and not the BJP. The anchors look appropriately shocked.
11.14 am
Rajdeep Sardesai on India Today gives the headline for now: “It’s a neck and neck fight in Haryana”. He points at how the India Today- My Axis exit poll was the only one to predict that none of the parties would get over 50 in Haryana. Rahul Kanwal chips and says that it must be very embarrassing for other “loud” and “boisterous” channels who seem to have gotten it so wrong. Kanwal says, “One lesson is clear, watch India Today.”
11.11 am
Sreenivasan Jain says things have changed for the BJP. “The traditional dominant castes which the BJP managed to win over to some extent…are perhaps returning to the traditional parties which managed to cultivate them, whether it’s the NCP or JJP.”
11.10 am
Meanwhile, a Zee News anchor points towards Congress workers in Haryana who are in a celebratory mood and who are supposedly watching Zee News for its “sateek” coverage.
11.07 am
Badi Khabar on Zee News: CM Manoharlal Khattar has been summoned to Delhi.
Rahul Kanwal says, “This is why I love the election dashboard. You’ll see insights which you’ll not see elsewhere.”He points our how 25 seats in Haryana have a lead of less than 1,000 votes. “It can go either way and change the election completely.” In Maharashtra, Kanwal points out, there are 43 seats with a lead of less than 1,000 votes right now.
11.05 am
On NDTV, journalist Nalini Singh says the “heroes” of this election are the voters. “Even if it freezes in Haryana, it’s still a switch. About 50 per cent of voters have undergone a turn.”
11 am
Rahul Shivshankar is beating Navika in the graphics department. Maharashtra is being explained with a pentagon, not a triangle like Haryana. He’s now pointing to colorful shapes to explain voting patterns.
10.57 am
On Times Now, Rahul Shivshankar declares, “India is with Modi but Bharat has a problem with BJP…Bharat has a problem.”
The Zee News anchor insists that a BJP representative on the show accepts that the results are not going to be “utsahjanak” or joyous. The representative retorts, “Arre, result abhi aaya nahi hai.”
On the Congress’s improved performance in Haryana, Madhu Kishwar says, “Rahul Gandhi ko chuttiya manane ka time milega (Rahul Gandhi can go on a holiday). Now he can relax.”
10.53 am
Times Now seems to have new graphics. Navika Kumar explains how rural clusters are voting by pointing at some colourful triangles.
10.52 am
Zee News reminds its panel that while campaigning in Haryana, PM Modi had said, “
10.48 am
On Times Now, Rahul Shivshankar makes a pertinent point, “We are not saying this is a vote for the Opposition, but this is also not a vote of confidence for the BJP!”
10.45 am
Here’s an update from the EC for Maharashtra: the BJP leading in 99 seats, the Congress in 40, the NCP in 50 and the Shiv Sena in 61.
Here’s a quick update from the Election Commission website for Haryana. The BJP is leading in 40 seats, the Congress in 25.
10.41 am
Rahul Shivshankar and Navika Kumar discuss the Khattar government’s dismal performance in Jat-dominated areas of Haryana. If you’re wondering what that’s about, read all about it on Newslaundry.
10.32 am
Chetan Bhagat is on Times Now, where the panel is discussing economics and the economy. “Not all economists are leftists,” says Rahul Shivshankar. Shortly after, Chetan Bhagat says, “The public is saying [to Modi], ‘Don’t be so smug’.”
10.29 am
Now Arnab declares that the Haryana results are a mix of Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka results. BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma says it’s too early to call the elections.
10.25 am
Utter chaos in the Republic studio as multiple heads start talking at the same time. “This is a big shock for the BJP,” says one head. “You can’t say anything till 1 pm about Haryana. Don’t say anything,” responds the other.
10.20 am
On Republic TV, Arnab Goswami has placed a breathless reporter in Jannayak Janata Party president Dushyant Chautala’s office in Haryana. The reporter has been instructed to ask the crowd if they will accept Chautala as deputy CM. “Nahiiii!” comes the emphatic response. One gentleman says, “He will be the king of Haryana!”
Arnab declares this is going the Karnataka way.
Newslaundry is a reader-supported, ad-free, independent news outlet based out of New Delhi. Support their journalism, here.
