This Article is From Oct 15, 2014

Maharashtra, Haryana Go To Polls, All Eyes On BJP

Maharashtra, Haryana Go To Polls, All Eyes On BJP

Voters queue up outside a polling booth in Nagpur

New Delhi: Voting is underway for the Assembly elections in Maharashtra and Haryana. For both the BJP and the Congress, these elections are crucial. The BJP needs to win the numbers game in the Rajya Sabha, where it is in a minority. The Congress - after its decimation in the general elections - is determined to retain its grip on both states.

Here's you 10-point cheat sheet to the elections today

  1. All eyes are on Maharashtra, with its 288 seats and a four-cornered contest. Last month, both the ruling and the opposition alliances - NCP-Congress and the BJP-Shiv Sena - fell apart over seat sharing.

  2. Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena is the fifth player in the state. But he has kept a window open for post poll alliance with estranged cousin Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena.

  3. After a 25-year alliance with the Sena, the decision to go it alone is a gamble for the BJP. But its show in the 2009 assembly polls and the recent Lok Sabha election gives it hope.

  4. In 2009, the party won 46 of the 119 assembly seats contested, the Sena won 44 of 160. In the general election four months ago, it won 23 of Maharashtra's 48 Lok Sabha seats. The Sena won 18.

  5. Still, the party is banking heavily on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who, over the last nine days, has addressed 27 rallies in the state.

  6. What also works in BJP's favour are the strong anti-incumbency and the corruption charges against the NCP and the Congress, which had been in power for 15 years.

  7. Should it win, front runners for the Chief Minister's post are state BJP chief Devendra Fadnavis and senior leader Eknath Khadse.

  8. In Haryana, which has 90 seats, the BJP faces not just the ruling Congress, but also a resurgent Indian National Lok Dal, which is headed by the 79-year-old OP Chautala.

  9. Even in Haryana, the BJP is going it alone, having broken from smaller ally Haryana Janhit Congress over seat sharing.

  10. Mr Chautala had to go back to jail last week after he was spotted at an election campaign while out on bail on medical grounds. But his loss is unlikely to affect his party's chances.



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