Haryana assembly elections 2024: 61% voter turnout recorded; exit polls predict 'easy' win for Congress

The Congress party could make a comeback in Haryana after a decade, potentially replacing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the upcoming Assembly elections, according to exit polls released on Saturday (October 05).

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A voter turnout of 61 per cent has been recorded as of 5 pm. 

A voter turnout of 54.3 per cent has been recorded as of 4 pm, according to Election Commission (EC) data. 

A voter turnout of 49.13 per cent has been recorded as of 3 pm. 

A voter turnout of 36.69 per cent has been recorded as of 1 pm, according to Election Commission (EC) data. 

A voter turnout of 22.70 per cent has been recorded in Haryana so far. The district of Jind has the highest turnout at 27.20 per cent. 

Veteran Haryana politician and the state's former chief minister Om Prakash Chautala was seen voting in Saturday's elections. Chautala cast his vote at a polling booth in Sirsa. 

BJP candidate from Ambala Cantt Assembly seat Anil Vij expressed confidence that his party would win the assembly elections.

Amid speculations that who would be the CM if the BJP wins, Vij said, "CM will be decided by the party if the party wants me, then our next meeting will be in the Chief Minister's residence. I am the senior most in the party..."

Vij had thrown his hat into the ring for the top post in the state in case of a BJP victory.

However, the BJP had announced that the current Chief Minister, Nayab Singh Saini, will continue in the position. 

A voter turnout of 9.53 per cent has been recorded in Haryana as of 9 am. Some of the highest turnouts have been seen in Jind (12.71 per cent), Palwal (12.54 per cent), and Ambala (11.87 per cent). 

Haryana CM Saini said on Saturday that he was confident of the BJP's victory in the assembly elections.

Speaking to the news agency ANI, Saini said, "The promises of the Congress are not concrete. They have lost the support of the people. Congress' intention is clear that they want to finish reservations."

"They are anti-reservation and anti-poor," he added. 

JJP's candidate from Uchana Kalan seat and former state deputy CM Dushyant Singh Chautala said that his party's alliance with the ASP will get a huge majority in these elections.

Chief Minister Saini, the BJP's candidate from Ladwa assembly seat, voted in the election on Saturday.

Haryana's Chief Electoral Officer Pankaj Agarwal said that a total of 29,462 police personnel, 21,196 home guards, and 10,403 Special Police Officers (SPO) have been deployed across the state.

Strict surveillance will be maintained at every corner of the state to allow citizens to cast their votes without fear.

Fact 1:  A total of 1,031 candidates are contesting in all 90 assembly constituencies, and 20,632 polling booths have been set up for voting. 

Fact 2: According to officials, 20,354,350 voters, including 10,775,957 males, 9,577,926 females, and 467 third-gender voters will be voting in the elections.

Fact 3: The counting of votes and announcement of results will be on October 8.

"Voting is taking place today for the Haryana Assembly elections. I appeal to all voters to be a part of this holy festival of democracy and set a new record of voting. On this occasion, my special best wishes to all the young friends of the state who are going to vote for the first time," Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a post on X.

Union Minister and former Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar cast his vote in the elections.

The top parties in the fray are the BJP, the Congress, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as well as the pre-poll alliance between the Indian National Lok Dal -Bahujan Samaj Party (INLD-BSP) and the Jannayak Janta Party-Azad Samaj Party (JJP-ASD).

Mock polling was held in polling booths across the Indian state before voting began in the assembly elections.

The voting has begun in Haryana. Around 20.35 million voters are eligible to vote. 

Voting began at 7 am and would go on till 6 pm.

Voting for all 90 seats in Haryana would begin shortly.