New Delhi, October 8, 2024 – Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is leading in the northern state of Haryana but is expected to fall short in Indian-occupied Kashmir (IOK) as votes are counted in two key regional elections.
In IOK, the opposition alliance of Congress and the regional National Conference (NC) has taken the lead, posing a significant challenge to the BJP.
These elections are the first regional polls in India since the general election in June, where the BJP retained power with a reduced majority. A third consecutive victory in Haryana would be a major boost for the BJP, as other crucial state elections are on the horizon.
Although the Congress initially expressed confidence in winning Haryana, analysts suggest that internal conflicts, complacency, and the consolidation of votes against the dominant Jat community may have hurt their chances.
Once again, the election results have proven exit polls wrong. They had predicted a Congress majority in Haryana and a hung assembly in Jammu and Kashmir, neither of which materialized.
Both Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir have 90 assembly seats each. A party or coalition that secures a majority of seats can form the government. This was the first assembly election held in Jammu and Kashmir since the region’s autonomy was revoked in 2019 and it was reconstituted as a federally governed territory.
