NEW DELHI: The Congress will form governments in Maharashtra and Arunachal, but appears to be heading for a fractured verdict in Haryana.
MAHARASHTRA
The Congress, along with its ally NCP, was poised to retain power in the 288-member Maharashtra assembly. Of the 269 results declared so far, the ruling combine has bagged 131, the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance 87, MNS 13, Republican Left Democratic Front 12 and others 26. ( Watch Video )
The Congress-NCP alliance, which had won 140 seats in the last elections, may end up with almost the same figure and may not have problems in forming the government with the support of rebels of both the parties and independents.
The Sena-BJP leaders are attributing their loss to the Raj Thackeray-led MNS which made its maiden foray in the 288-member House.
"We lost because MNS ate into the traditional Shiv Sena votes," BJP general secretary Gopinath Munde said.
As Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has made it clear that it will not stake claim to chief minister's post, the process of government formation is likely to get speeded up, a senior Congress leader said.
Chief minister Ashok Chavan, in race for the top job, said the ruling alliance's performance was due to the dynamic leadership of Congress president Sonia Gandhi and team work by Congress-NCP combine.
HARYANA
The Congress has fallen short of a majority in Haryana after results for all seats were declared.
The Congress emerged as the single largest party in the Haryana assembly elections but was not able to get a clear victory. The party won 40 of the 90-member assembly seats, the INLD won 31, the Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) won 6, the BJP 4 and Independents 7. The BSP won one seat in the state and Shiromani Akali Dal, an alliance partner of the INLD, won one.
For a simple majority in the assembly, the Congress needs 46 seats. It had won 67 seats in the February 2005 elections. .
While INLD chief Om Prakash Chautala won the Uchana Kalan seat defeating finance minister Birender Singh by a margin of 621 votes, his son Ajay Chautala emerged victorious from Dabwali defeating his cousin K V Singh of Congress.
Haryana Congress chief Phool Chand Mullana and transport minister Mange Ram Gupta lost from Mullana and Jind to INLD.
Among other prominent winners are HJC-BL chief Kuldeep Bishnoi, who won the Adampur and Haryana BJP President Krishan Pal Gujjar, who was declared elected from Tigaon.
ARUNACHAL PRADESH
The ruling Congress party in Arunachal Pradesh will form the next government for the second straight term, having already won 38 of 60 assembly seats as counting of votes progressed Thursday.
Of the 55 results declared, the Congress party won 38 seats, Trinamool Congress won five seats, six by the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), two by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and four by independents and candidates belonging to smaller regional parties.
The Congress is leading in four more seats, according to latest trends available.
"This is a victory for good governance and stability, besides all round development that we were able to bring to the state," Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Dorjee Khandu told IANS.
"We thank the people of the state for giving us a chance to rule the state for yet another term." Voting was held for 57 seats with three candidates already declared elected unopposed.
Khandu and two more ruling Congress members were declared elected unopposed - sitting MLA Tsewang Dhondup from Tawang constituency and debutant Jambey Tashi from the Lumla seat.
Khandu was elected unopposed from the Mukto constituency in Tawang district, bordering China, repeating his feat in the 1999 and 2004 assembly elections.
Voting for the 60-member assembly elections was held Oct 13 with an estimated 72 percent of the 750,000 electorate having exercised their franchise.
A total of 154 candidates were in the fray with the ruling Congress party fielding candidates in all the 60 seats.
Apart from the Congress party, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) fielded 36 candidates, and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) 22 -- although the surprise element was the Trinamool Congress with several candidates in the fray.
Of the Trinamool Congress nominees, five are former Congress party ministers and 10 are sitting MLAs from the ruling party who were denied tickets this time.
Fractured verdict in Haryana: INC gets 40 seats, INLD win 32
Chandigarh: Haryana threw up a fractured verdict in the assembly elections with ruling Congress falling six short of the magic figure of 46, as independents, who could play a crucial role in government formation, won seven seats.
INLD, which has made a significant comeback, won at 31 constituencies in the 90-member House.
With all the results declared, the Congress finished with a tally of 40 followed by INLD, whose ally Shiromani Akali Dal got one seat.
Of the remaining 18 seats, Haryana Janhit Congress-BL, a new entrant in assembly polls, got six seats, BJP four and BSP one.
While the Congress suffered major losses conceding 27 seats it won in 2005, the INLD, led by former chief minister Om Prakash Chautala, improved its tally to 31 from nine seats it won last time.
With assembly election results throwing a hung House, the independents could play a major role in government formation. Buoyed by the improvement in INLD's tally, Chautala demanded that the Governor should invite the opposition parties first to give them an opportunity to form the government.
Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said Congress was all set to return to power for a second term and the party high command will take a decision on the issue of leadership of the legislature party.
Cong gets two-third majority in Arunachal Pradesh
Itanagar: The ruling Congress on Thursday stormed back to power in Arunachal Pradesh with a two-third majority winning 39 seats and leading in three others in the 60-member state Assembly.
While Congress contested all the 60 seats, Trinamool Congress, which tested its popularity for the first time in the state by putting up candidates at 26 places, has won five seats and is leading in a seat.
The NCP, which had fielded 36 candidates, emerged victorious at six places.
Of the 39 seats won by Congress, Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu and two other party candidates were elected unopposed. The results have been announced for 53 seats so far, with Congress getting 36 seats, BJP bagging two while the others winning four seats. The BJP had contested 18 seats.
Barring Public Health Engineering Lombo Tayeng, all ministers in the outgoing cabinet won. State Congress chief Nabam Tuki was among the winners.
The ministers who won are -- Jarbom Gamlin, Tanga Byalin, Kaliko Pul, Tako Dabi, C C Singpho, Chowna Mein, Nabam Tuki and Newlei Tingkhatra.
However, party leaders including seven time MLA in a row and former chief minister Gegong Apang, and his son Omak Apang bite the dust. While Apang senior lost to NCP, his son was humbeled by BJP.
Tsering Gyurmi, a close confidante of the chief minister, also lost to People's Party of Arunachal Pradesh candidate Phurpa Tsering. The ruling party had 34 seats in the last Assembly.
Cong-NCP combine surge ahead, set to form govt in Maha
Mumbai: Maharashtra’s ruling Congress-NCP alliance is set to form its third successive government in the state as it has emerged as the largest political formation in the assembly elections held on October 13.
The Congress-NCP combine is forging ahead and has managed simple majority on its own. They have until now won 144 seats and are leading in one. The Shiv Sena-BJP on the other hand has taken a severe beating and the combined numbers of the seats won just 91 seats, 25 seats short of its tally from 2004.
Affected vastly by the presence of Raj Thackeray-led MNS, the Shiv Sena-BJP combine has managed to bag only 91 seats and leading in one, far behind its 2004 tally of 116 seats. Shiv Sena has won 45 seats, while BJP has bagged 46 seats and was leading in 1 seat.
Raj Thackeray’s MNS has emerged as the surprise package with victories in 13 seats, way beyond the 8-10 seats even party insiders had forecast. The assembly has 288 seats and the halfway mark for a simple majority is 145.
In fact, the MNS opened its account with the victory of two of its nominees: from Vikhroli, Mangesh Sangle defeated NCP’s Pallavi Sanjay Patil, wife of Lok Sabha MP Sanjay Patil and Shiv Sena’s Datta Dalvi; also, MNS nominee Ramesh Wanjale got elected from Khadakvasla.
The other winners are Chief Minister Ashok Chavan (Bhokar), Narayan Rane (Kudal), NCP minister Ajit Pawar (Baramati), Sushilkumar Shinde’s daughter Praniti (Solapur city central), NCP nominee from Kalwan, A T Pawar, Shivendraje Bhosale from Satara and while President Pratibha Patil's son Rajendra Shekhawat defeated Congress rebel Sunil Deshmukh in Amravati.
High Command will decide on Chief Ministership, says Chavan
New Delhi: Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan on Thursday said the Congress leadership will decide who will be the new Chief Minister of the state.
"I leave to the party and Congress president Sonia Gandhi to take a decision (on the issue of Chief Ministership)," Chavan said.
"Collective leadership and leadership of Sonia Gandhi" has taken the party to lead in the assembly seats in the state, he added.
To a question whether Chavan could be the next Chief Minister of Maharastra, senior Congress leader Jayanti Natarajan said that there were many eligible leaders and newly-elected MLAs with the guidelines of "high command" will decide who will be the CM.
"Senior party leaders will decide the next CM in Maharashtra," she added.
Chief Minister will be from Congress: MPCC president
With Congress-NCP on the way to retaining power in Maharashtra for the third consecutive term, Congress today made it clear that the next Chief Minister will be from the party.
"The issue (of which party's leader will become chief minister) does not arise at all. NCP chief Sharad Pawar has made it clear that next Chief Minister will be of Congress," MPCC president Manikrao Thakre said.
Asked who would be the CM, Thakre said, "the tradition in Congress is that views of legislators are taken into account and Congress president Sonia Gandhi decides the name which is then accepted by legislators. The same system will continue, there is no question of diverting from that."
Cong in touch with Bhajan Lal-led party, independents
New Delhi: With Haryana assembly polls producing a fractured mandate, Congress has opened channels of communication with Bhajan Lal-led breakaway faction for support and is wooing the seven successful Independent MLAs to help form the next government in the state.
Requiring 46 MLAs to form the government in the 90-member assembly, Congress is short of the magic figure by six.
Party sources said of the 7 Independents, four are Congress rebels while three have their loyalties to INLD chief Om Prakash Chautala.
As both Congress and INLD are in a close race to form government in the state, sources in Congress said channels of communications are open with Bhajan Lal-led Haryana Janhit Congress-BL which has six MLAs.
"Bhajan Lal is an old Congressman...Our channels of communications are open with him," a senior party leader closely associated with Haryana affairs said.
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However, the leader said the party does not know what Bhajan Lal would ask for in return for his support.
Congress had denied party ticket to Bhajan Lal's son Chander Mohan alias Chand Mohammed after his controversial conversion to Islam and then re-conversion.
Party sources were optimistic that Congress will form the government but were worried whether Chautala had some aces up in his sleeves at this point of time when so much depends on Independents and Bhajan Lal-led party.
Congress sources counted 32 MLAs in Chautala's kitty along with one of SAD. If BJP, former ally of INLD, supports it, the figure would go upto 36. Add to it the three Independents loyal to Chautala.
Maoists release kidnapped police officer
Midnapore (WB):Two days after being taken hostage, police officer Atindranath Dutta was released on Thursday unharmed by Maoists in Lalgarh after the women arrested by the security forces in anti-Maoist operations in West Midnapore district were released on bail by a court.
"As per our commitment to the Dutta family and the government, we have released Atindranth Dutta unharmed after 15 women were released on bail by a Jhargram court," top Maoist leader Kishenji, who had demanded their release, said over phone from an undisclosed location.
Asked if there was any mediation, Kishenji, who had declared that Dutta was a 'prisoner of war' and was being well treated, claimed "there was no mediator. We appealed to the government through the media and the family of the kidnapped officer."
West Bengal Chief Secretary Asok Mohan Chakraborty, however, said in Kolkata "He has not been fully released yet, but has been handed over to a team of media representatives and lawyers.”
"We are relieved. We went through a lot of tension for the last two days. A colleague of ours was abducted. We were worried about his state of health," Chakraborty told reporters at state Secretariat.
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