Tight finish for Modi's BJP party

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was set to emerge as the single largest party in Haryana followed by the Congress.

The BJP-Shiv Sena coalition was on Thursday on course to retain power albeit with a reduced majority in Maharashtra where the opposition Congress-NCP alliance put up a good show while BJP-ruled Haryana appeared headed for a hung assembly and JJP chief Dushyant Chautala set to become the kingmaker.
In the first Assembly elections after the BJP's triumph in the Lok Sabha polls in May, the saffron party's electoral juggernaut met with some resistance in Maharashtra and Haryana with a resurgent Congress performing creditably in the northern state.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was set to emerge as the single largest party in Haryana followed by the Congress.
The Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) not only improved its performance in Maharashtra but fared even better than senior partner Congress by contesting lesser number of seats.
In Haryana, the Congress, which failed to bag even one seat in the Lok Sabha polls, won or was ahead in 31 of the 90 seats at stake compared to its previous tally of 15. The BJP, which had 47 seats in the outgoing 90-member house, won or was ahead in 40 seats. The half-way mark is 46.
All eyes were on the fledgling Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) which was floated last year by Dushyant Chautala, a former MP from Hisar, after a vertical split in the once powerful INLD following a family feud in the Chautala clan.
Dushyant remained non-committal on whether his party would support the BJP or the Congress in forming a government in the event of a hung assembly. The JJP won 9 seats and was leading in one.
As Haryana headed for a hung assembly as per the latest trends, the BJP high command is understood to have summoned Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar to Delhi. The BJP had set a target of winning 75 seats.
As per the results and trends available in Maharashtra, the BJP's tally in the 288-member Assembly was 105 while it was 56 for the Sena. In the 2014 polls, the BJP and the Sena won 122 and 63 seats respectively. They had then contested separately. The Sena joined the Fadnavis-led government over a month after it was formed.
The NCP won or was ahead in 54 while the Congress' tally was 44. The NCP and the Congress bagged 41 and 42 seats in the outgoing house.
With trends in Maharashtra showing the BJP falling short of the halfway-mark on its own, its ally and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray said it was time to implement "fifty-fifty" formula for power-sharing, decided on earlier. "Maharashtra mandate is an eye-opener for many," Thackeray told reporters in Mumbai.
"We had agreed to contest fewer seats (than the BJP), but I cannot accommodate the BJP every time. I should allow my party to grow," Uddhav said, indicating that he would drive a hard bargain.
In what appears to be a setback for the BJP, which placed considerable emphasis on Article 370, Jammu and Kashmir and other national issues in this campaign, seven of its ministers, assembly Speaker and state party chief in Haryana lost or were trailing.

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