Friday, September 12, 2014

2014 Maharashtra and Haryana Assembly Elections on October 15 ,2014

Assembly elections in Haryana and Maharashtra will be held on October 15,2014 the Election Commission
said on Friday Sep 12,2014

The term of Haryana assembly will expire on October 27 while term of Maharashtra Assembly would end on November 8,2014

There are 90 seats in Haryana Assembly of which Congress occupies 40. Indian National Lok Dal has 31 MLAs in the Assembly and Bharatiya Janata Party just four.

Congress which was reduced to just 2 seats in the Lok Sabha, has 82 seats in the Maharashtra Assembly. Its ally Nationalist Congress Party has 62 seats. BJP and Shiv Sena combine occupies 90 seats in the Assembly.

As many as 288 seats in Maharashtra and 90 in Haryana go to polls on October 15 and counting will take place on October 19, Chief Election Commissioner V S Sampath said.

Out of the total 1.615 crore voters, the coverage of Election Photo Identity Cards in Haryana is 100 per cent. In Maharashtra, the Identity card coverage is 92.40 per cent out of the total 8.259 crore voters as on July 31, he said.

Notification for polls will be issued on September 20 and last date for filing nomination is September 27 for all seats except Kandhamal(Odisha) for which the notification will be on September 19 and last date of nomination is September 26.

Indian National Congress(INC)Announces Candidates Sunday Sep 20,2014
The Congress on Wednesday announced the names of its candidates for all 90 Assembly constituencies in Haryana for the upcoming elections

Congress is seeking a third term in the state.

Shiv Sena to contest all 288 seats in Maharashtra

The Shiv Sena will contest all 288 seats in the Maharashtra Assembly elections and the list of candidates has been completed on Friday night.

The Sena has also refused to name its candidates publicly. The party has asked candidates to directly fill forms for nomination.

September 27 is the last date to fill the nomination form.The voting for the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly is on October 15 and the counting of votes is on October 19,2014

Pre-poll survey shows BJP set to win Maharashtra

A pre-poll survey by the India Today Group and Cicero predicts that Bharatiya Janata Partywill form the next government in Maharashtra on its own

A total of 7,346 interviews were conducted at 381 locations across 96 Assembly constituencies between September 30 and October 4.

The BJP is set to emerge as the single largest party in the Maharashtra Assembly elections by bagging anything between 125 and 141 seats, while the Congress is projected to be heading for a rout with winning just 30 seats in the polls.

In the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly, a party would need about 145 seats to form the government. While the BJP may fall short of the clear majority by a whisker, it will have the backing of its allies like the Republican Party of India (RPI) to stake a claim to form the government.

The survey projects that other parties that includes the BJP’s pre-poll allies like the Rashtriya Samaj Paksha, Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana, Shiv Sangram and RPI, might secure between 20 and 30 seats.

The BJP’s voteshare is projected to increase from 14 per cent in 2009 to 30 per cent in the upcoming polls. The BJP has been projected to win 125-141 seats in the Assembly, with a median figure of 133 seats.

On the other hand, the vote share of the Congress is expected to slide from 21 per cent five years ago to 14 per cent.

After its historic decimation in the Lok Sabha elections, the Congress is facing one of its worst performances in Maharashtra, a state it has ruled for 15 years in alliance with the NCP.

The Congress is expected to win 25-35 seats, with a median value of 30.

The voteshare of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), which was an ally of the Congress for the past 15 years, is predicted to fall marginally from 16.4 per cent in 2009 to 14 per cent. But the NCP is expected to bag 28-38 seats, with a median value of 33. This will represent a significant fall from the 62 seats the party won five years ago.

The Shiv Sena, which seems to be on the back foot after the BJP snapped ties, will see a slight increase in its vote share — from 16.3 per cent in 2009 to 19 per cent. The Sena, which won 44 seats in 2009, is tipped to secure 51-63 seats with a median value of 57.

The vote share of the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) is expected to remain at almost the same level, going from 5.7 per cent in 2009 to five per cent.

MNS is projected to win about 13 seats, the same number it bagged in 2009. The survey suggests that the BJP is gaining the most in Marathwada, Konkan, Mumbai-Thane and western Maharashtra. The party is expected to register the least growth in Vidarbha

2014 Haryana Assembly Election

Haryana has 90 Assembly seats and 10 Lok Sabha seats. Out of total 90 Assembly seats, 73 are general seats and 17 seats are reserved for the Scheduled Castes (SCs).

A total of 1351 candidates are in the fray. Of them, less than 10 per cent or just 109 candidates are women. 603 candidates are Independents.

There are 16,357 polling booths in the state. 1,63,18,577 voters are eligible to exercise their constitutional right in the current election.

Of them, 87,37,116 are male voters and 74,79,439 are female voters.

A maximum of 31 candidates are contesting in Bhiwani Assembly Constituency whereas a minimum of seven candidates each are in Shahbad and Nuh Assembly constituencies.

A maximum number of 3,16,567 voters are in Badshahpur Assembly Constituency whereas minimum number of 1,26,804 voters are in Narnaul Assembly Constituency.

For the time, since the state of Haryana was crated in 1967, it has been witnessing a hotly contested triangular fight with some minor parties thrown in.

The BJP, which had been a fringe force in the state, has emerged as a prime political party overnight demolishing all established political theories.

The Congress, which has been in power since 2005, is facing the toughest battle and trying its best to save its clout under the leadership of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) of the Chautala clan seems to have regained its strength and is giving a very though fight to both the Congress and BJP.

The Congress and the BJP are contesting in all 90 assembly seats. The INLD is contesting in 88 seats. The BSP is contesting in 87 seats.

The HJC of Kuldip Bishnoi is contesting in 65 seats. The CPI and CPM are contesting in 14 and 17 seats respectively.

The Narnaul assembly seat with 1,26,804 voters has the least number of voters and Badshahpur with 3,16,567 voters has the highest number of voters in the state

2009 Assembly Results
Total Seats - 90
Congress - 40
INLD - 31
HJC - 6
BJP - 4
BSP - 1
SAD - 1
Independents - 7

Seats are also likely to be divided among smaller parties like the BSP, Haryana Janhit Congress, Haryana Jan Chetna Party, and the Haryana Lokhit Party, as well as Independent candidates.

Congress estimates indicate that the smaller parties will end up dividing the Opposition vote and, in turn, give it some manoeuvring space to head a coalition government. But for that, the Congress must win at least 35 seats in the House of 90.

However, on the eve of the campaign deadline — October 13 (today) — the buzz hinted at the INLD and BJP cornering a good number of seats as well.

During the campaign, both the Congress and BJP targeted jailed INLD chief and former chief minister O.P. Chautala on his conviction in the teacher recruitment scam. According to sources, Modi slammed Chautala to ensure the BJP crosses the half-way mark of 45 seats, but even so, the party may not be averse to joining hands with the INLD after the polls if needed.

Though there is no pan-Haryana support for the BJP despite the party winning seven of the 10 Lok Sabha seats, Congress managers are keeping their fingers crossed on how voters respond to Modi’s call for a clear majority.

Key Candidates in Maharashtra, Haryana

Maharashtra:
Congress
Prithviraj Chavan: South Karad
Praniti Shinde: Solapur City Central
Narayan Rane: Kudal
Nitesh Rane: Kankavali
Nationalist Congress Party
Ajit Pawar: Baramati
Chhagan Bhujbal: Yeola
BJP
Pankaja Munde: Parli
Devendra Fadnavis: Nagpur South West
Shiv Sena
Subhash Desai: Goregaon
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena
Bala Nandgaonkar: Sewri
Haryana:
Congress
Bhupinder Singh Hooda: Garhi Sampla Kiloi
BJP
Captain Abhimanyu: Narnaund
Vandana Sharma: Safidon
INLD
Abhay Chautala: Ellenabad
Dushyant Chautala: Uchana Kalan
Haryana Janhit Congress
Kuldeep Bishnoi: Adampur
Haryana Jan Chetna Party
Venod Sharma: Ambala
Haryana Lokhit Party
Gopal Kanda: Sirsa

An estimated 64 % of 8.53 crore voters exercised their franchise on Wednesday in Maharashtra, where pollsters projected a hung Assembly with the BJP emerging as the single largest party, but falling short of a majority in the 288-member House.

The turnout has marginally improved from the Lok Sabha polls held earlier this year, in which the state had polled 60.32%

Voters outside a polling station at Haryana

Haryana made history on Wednesday with a 75.9% record voter turnout, as 1.63 crore electors exercised their franchise for the Assembly polls.

The previous maximum turnout of 72.65 per cent was recorded in 1967.

Haryana Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Shrikant Wlgad said: “Polling began on a slow note at all the 16,357 polling booths but picked up pace gradually. The people were very enthusiastic to exercise their right to vote.”

while candidates from Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were contesting from all 90 Assembly constituencies, others in the fray included 88 candidates from INLD, 87 from BSP, 65 from HJC, 17 from CPM, 14 from CPI, 297 from other registered parties, and 603 Independent candidates.

Baramati MP Supriya Sule casts her vote. Ms. Sule is the daughter of NCP party chief Sharad Pawar.

Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan casts his vote in Karad

Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan (left) was seen out on polling day with his wife Gauri Khan, while cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar showed off his inky finger in Mumbai alongside his wife Anjali Tendulkar

Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray (centre) was accompanied by his wife Rashmi and Shiv Sena youth wing chief Aditya Thackeray

Exit Polls

The Team behind the BJP's historic victories in Maharashtra and Haryana

Behind every victory there is a team and the same goes for Bharatiya Janata Party national president Amit Shah.

While Shah has been credited with the party’s victory in Haryana and in Maharashtra, there were key players in his teams that meticulously strategised every move the party was to make in both the states ahead of the Assembly elections.

And the teams have clicked. The BJP has won a majority in Haryana and has come out as the single largest party in Maharashtra.

For both the states Shah created special teams aiming for better implementation of his micro-poll planning.

Several prominent names ended up as losers, while others came out unscathed in Maharashtra and Haryana when the poll results were declared on Sunday Oct 19,2014

In Maharashtra, Congress leader Narayan Rane was defeated in his hometown Kudal by Shiv Sena rival Vaibhav Naik. This is the first time since 1990 that the former chief minister has been defeated in a state election. Rane lost by a margin of 9,000 votes.

Another big name to bite the dust is NCP leader Ganesh Naik from Belapur in Navi Mumbai. Naik was defeated by NCP rebel Manda Mhatre, who contested on a BJP ticket. She won by a margin of 1,400-odd votes.

Devendra Fadnavis hugs his mother Savita after his victory in Nagpur