The Congress-led alliances in Maharashtra and Jharkhand are hopeful of returning to power in both states as votes polled in the recently held assembly polls in both states will be counted on Saturday. Besides the assembly polls, results of the Wayanad bypolls where Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is contesting will also be known on Saturday.
According to Election Commission officials, the counting of votes will begin at 8am and postal ballots would be counted first. According to officials, early trends will be known by 9am.
Jharkhand
Elections to the 81-seat Jharkhand Assembly were conducted in two phases – on November 13 and 20. A record voter turnout of 67.74 per cent was recorded in Jharkhand in this assembly polls, the highest ever since the formation of the state.
The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha-led ruling INDIA bloc is hopeful of returning to power in the state. Chief Minister Hemant Soren is hopeful of a consecutive win despite a few exit polls predicting otherwise. Soren contested from Barhait, against BJP's Gamaliyan Hembromin in the election.
Besides various welfare schemes, misuse of central probe agencies against opposition by the BJP-led Centre was one of the key poll planks of the INDIA bloc in the election. The BJP accused the ruling alliance of corruption and supporting infiltration in the tribal-dominated state.
Maharashtra
In Maharashtra, the opposition Maha Vikas Agadi is confident of defeating the BJP-led Mahayuti government, formed by splitting a faction of legislators from erstwhile Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party.
The Congress party has appointed observers for both Maharashtra and Jharkhand to monitor post-poll scenario. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge deputed Ashok Gehlot, Bhupesh Baghel and G. Parameshwara as party’s observers to Maharashtra, while Tariq Anwar, Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and Krishna Allavuru have been named observers for Jharkhand.
Polling for elections to the 288-seat Maharashtra Assembly was held on November 20 and a voter turnout of 66.05 per cent was recorded in the state, four per cent higher than 2019 Assembly polls.
Opposition’s Maha Vikas Agadi comprises of Congress, Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar faction) and the parties contested in 101, 95 and 86 seats respectively. In the ruling Mahayuti alliance, the BJP contested 149 seats, Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction) 81 seats and the Ajit Pawar-led NCP 59 seats.
The majority mark in the 288-seat Maharashtra Assembly is 145, the number any alliance needs to crack to be able to form government in the state. While most exit polls predict a victory for the Mahayuti alliance, three suggest a hung assembly.
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According to reports, Mahayuti leaders are already in talks with Independents for their support, in case of a hung assembly. Parties have also reportedly booked private jets and resorts to prevent poaching.
Along with the assembly polls, bypolls were conducted to 48 assembly constituencies and two Lok Sabha constituencies – Wayanad, Kerala and Nanded, Maharashtra. Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is making her electoral debut this election and is contesting from the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat in Kerala – a seat her brother and Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi vacated after he won from two seats in the Lok Sabha polls. The Congress-led alliance in Kerala is hopeful Priyanka will be elected to Lok Sabha with a winning margin of close to five lakh votes.