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Updated: Oct 24, 2019 09:29 IST

The Bharatiya Janata Party made a propitious beginning in early leads as counting of votes for the Maharashtra and Haryana assembly elections started early this morning at centres across the two states amid tight security. The assembly elections, the first set of electoral test for the ruling BJP since the April-May general elections, are expected to indicate if the national coalition has been able to build on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity after scrapping Jammu and Kashmir’s special status in the face of an opposition campaign over the general economic slowdown.

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In very early trends, according to data provided by C-Voter, the BJP-Shiv Sena combine is leading in 178 Maharashtra assembly seats as against the Congress which is ahead in just about 87 seats at 9:30 am. In Haryana too, the BJP is leading in 47 seats; the Congress in just 27 seats.

Many more rounds of counting will happen but the leads mirror projections by many exit polls that predicted a second term for Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar with a big win. Just one of the half-a-dozen exit polls had projected a neck and neck contest in Haryana.

The elections were also a battle of prestige for Fadnavis and Khattar, the BJP’s two low-profile leaders in their respective states. Both were surprise choices for the top executive position in the state back in 2014 and have, since then, managed to reinforce the party’s base beyond its traditional strongholds.

Many more rounds of counting will happen but the leads mirror projections by many exit polls that predicted a second term for Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar with a big win. Just one of the half-a-dozen exit polls had projected a neck and neck contest in Haryana.

A win in the two states would also be a big morale booster for the BJP ahead of state elections in Jharkhand and Delhi due in December-January and would help improve the party’s tally in the Rajya Sabha.

The elections were also a battle of prestige for Fadnavis and Khattar, the BJP’s two low-profile leaders in their respective states. Both were surprise choices for the top executive position in the state back in 2014 and have, since then, managed to reinforce the party’s base beyond its traditional strongholds. In both states, the BJP opted to declare them as the party’s presumptive chief minister.

In Maharashtra, this is the first time that the BJP is fighting the election as a senior partner in the alliance with the Shiv Sena. In 2014, the BJP won 122 seats and Shiv Sena 63 while the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) won 42 and 41 seats, respectively. It is also the first time that someone from the Shiv Sena’s first family, Aaditya Thackeray, has plunged into electoral politics.