Wrestler Vinesh Phogat of Congress contesting from Julana won with a margin of 5,763 votes over a BJP candidate.
Published Oct 08, 2024 | 10:09 AM ⚊ Updated Oct 08, 2024 | 7:11 PM
Voters in Haryana. (ECI/ X)
Congress and Jammu and Kashmir National Conference have crossed the magic mark, winning 46 seats in the 90-member Jammu and Kashmir Assembly. JKNC and Congress are in an alliance in Jammu and Kashmir.
In Haryana, after an early lead, and then a neck-to-neck fight, BJP has taken the lead over Congress in 50 seats, winning 25 of them.
Counting for the votes polled for Assembly elections in Haryana, and Jammu and Kashmir has started early on Tuesday, 8 October.
Elections in Jammu and Kashmir were held for the first time after the abrogation of Article 370, in three phases from 18 September to 1 October.
Haryana too polled for the 90 Assembly constituencies on 5 October.
According to the ECI website, at 5:00 PM, in Haryana BJP was leading in 16 seats and won 33 seats, and Congress was leading in 6 seats and won 30 seats.
In Jammu and Kashmir, JKNC was leading in 1 seat and won 41, BJP 29 seats, Congress won 6 seats and Jammu and Kashmir People’s Democratic Party won 3 seats. Seven independent candidates have also won.
In Haryana, the People’s Pulse exit poll found the Congress likely to put the brakes on the BJP’s 10-year rule by winning more than 46 seats — necessary to form the government. The exit poll also predicted Jammu Kashmir National Conference-Congress alliance is likely to win most seats in Jammu and Kashmir.
Omar Abdullah of JKNC contesting from Ganderbal and Budgam won in Budgam with a margin of 18,485 votes over a JKPDP candidate.
Among the 42 seats won by JKNC, Nazir Ahmad Khan, Salman Sagar, Irshad Rasool Kar, and Javid Hassan Baig won from Gurez (ST), Hazratbal, Sopore, and Baramullah respectively.
Congress candidates won from six constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir— Wagoora-Kreeri, Bandipora, Central Shalteng, Doru, Anantnag, and Rajouri.
From JKPDP Waheed Ur Rahman Para, Mir Mohammad Fayaz, and Rafiq Ahmad Naik won Pulwama, Kupwara, and Tral constituencies respectively.
From BJP, among the 29 winners, Ranbir Singh Pathania, Baldev Raj Sharma, Dr Bharat Bushan and Darshan Kumar won from Udhampur East, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi, Kathua and Basohli constituencies respectively.
Speaking to the press agency PTI, Omar Abdullah said, “We are hoping for a victory, everything will be clear by afternoon. BJP should accept mandate even if it’s against them.”
Congress candidate and Leader of Opposition Bupinder Singh Hooda won from Garhi Samla-Kiloi with a margin of 71,465 votes.
Aftab Ahmed of Congress contesting from Nuh worn with a margin of 46,963 votes over an Indian National Lok Dal candidate.
Pawan Kharkodha of BJP contesting from Kharkauda won with a margin of 5,635 votes over a Congress candidate.
Dr Krishna Lal Middha of BJP contesting from Jind won with a margin of 15,860 votes over a Congress candidate.
Wrestler Vinesh Phogat of Congress contesting from Julana won with a margin of 5,763 votes over a BJP candidate.
This is her debut election after announcing her retirement from wrestling in August. Notably, Vinesh has been at the forefront of the protest against ex-WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who is accused of sexual harassment against women wrestlers.
Vinesh Phogat was disqualified from the recent Olympics for being slightly overweight by over 100 grams.
Another key Congress candidate Udai Bhan lost in Hodal with a margin of 2,632 votes to BJP’s Harinder Singh.
The key parties and alliances in the fray are the BJP, the Congress, the Aam Aadmi Party, INLD-BSP and JJP-Azad Samaj Party. However, most seats saw a direct fight between the BJP and the Congress.
Congress MP Jairam Ramesh wrote to the ECI regarding the delay in updating the trends of election results in Haryana.
In the letter he wrote: “Over the last two hours between 9-11 AM, there has been an unexplained slowdown in updating of results on the ECI’s website.”
“As you can imagine this allows bad-faith actors to spin narratives that undermine the process. You can see examples of it already playing out on social media. Our fear is also that such narratives can then be used by these mala fide actors to influence processes where counting is still underway i.e. in most of the counting centres.”
“We request you to issue immediate directions to your officials to update the website with true and accurate figures so that false news and malicious narratives can be countered immediately.”
Here is my letter to @ECISVEEP on the inordinate and unacceptable delay in updating trends in the Haryana assembly elections pic.twitter.com/Lvq747seTz
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) October 8, 2024
