It seems Modi juggernaut has been virtually unstoppable for the Congress and its allies. If exit polls are anything to go by, the Bharatiya Janata Party is all set to retain power in both Maharashtra and Haryana with more than two-third seats, routing its rivals led by the Congress.
Voting to the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly and 90-member Haryana Assembly was held on Monday with results expected to be announced on Thursday.
Maharashtra Assembly elections saw a voter turnout of around 63 per cent, almost matching the 63.38 per cent polling recorded in the last state elections in 2014. Rural areas of the state fared better, with voters there showing more enthusiasm than their urban counterparts. A galaxy of bigwigs from politics, Bollywood and India Inc joined the young and the old in exercising their franchise in this festival of democracy.
The state has total 8,98,39,600 voters, including 1,06,76,013 in the age group of 18 to 25 years. Nearly 6.5 lakh polling personnel were deployed at 96,661 polling booths across the state.
While the BJP-Shive Sena alliance seeks a second straight term under Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, the Congress-NCP front is keen on wresting power from the saffron alliance.
Haryana recorded a turnout of 65 per cent for 90 constituencies in the assembly elections by 6 pm. The final figure will be available when the data is tabulated, officials said. In the 2014 assembly elections, 76.54 per cent voters in Haryana had exercised their franchise.
The BJP, led by Chief Minister M L Khattar, is aiming at retaining power in Haryana and had set a target of winning 75 seats. Currently, the saffron party has 48 members in the state assembly.
Tight security arrangements were in place with over 75,000 security personnel deployed for the polls, DGP Manoj Yadava said earlier. Over 1.83 crore voters, including 85 lakh women, were eligible to vote.
With inputs from PTI