Maharashtra Says Punha Devendra: BJP-Shiv Sena Amass Big Lead, Neck And Neck Battle In Haryana

Incumbent Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is all set to storm back to power with a resounding majority in alliance with long time partner Shiv Sena.

Haryana though has sprung a surprise on many with the BJP and Congress locked in a close contest. The Dushyant Chautala led Jannayak Janata Party is expected to emerge as the kingmaker in the state.

Maharashtra

In a cloud nine moment for Fadnavis and co, the BJP and Shiv Sena combine has amassed a comfortable lead in the western state as per early trends.

As per India Today, the BJP-Shiv Sena combine is ahead on 163 seats and the Congress-NCP alliance being a distant second at 87. If the numbers stand, Fadnavis is all set to return as the Chief Minister with the majority mark being 145.

As per the election commission data released for 59 seats, the BJP is leading on 21, Shiv Sena on 13 and NCP, Congress on 15 and 5 respectively.

Fadnavis has already notched his name in the history books as he became the first Maharashtra Chief Minister since Vilasrao Naik to complete full five years in power.

In the five years as Chief Minister he has been praised in various quarters for his astute leadership and focus on developing Maharashtra into a $1 trillion economy.

He has successfully quelled caste based agitations like the Maratha reservation and farmer protests. His tenure has also seen a massive push to develop the state’s infra with a special focus on the Maximum City - Mumbai.

Haryana

The story is not going according to the script for the BJP in Haryana as the Congress, despite its recent infighting has managed to put up a strong show in the state.

As per latest trends, the BJP is ahead on 39 seats and the Congress is leading on 30. The Dushyant Chautala led JJP is ahead on 10 seats. As things stand, no party has crossed the majority mark of 46 on its own.

In light of this development the JJP may emerge as a kingmaker and speculation is rife whether the state might end up in a Karnataka style scenario.

In Karnataka, despite the BJP emerging as the single largest party, the Congress-JD(S) had ganged together after the latter - despite having lesser seats was given the Chief Ministerial position.