Jammu/Srinagar: Early trends show the National Conference-Congress alliance is leading in 46 seats in Jammu and Kashmir, while the BJP is ahead in 23 seats.
The PDP was ahead in three seats in the Union territory while the Independents were leading in eight seats, according to early data uploaded by the election commission.
The National Conference was ahead in 39 seats while its ally Congress was ahead in seven seats, trends for 64 of the 90 seats show. The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), CPI(M), Peoples Conference and Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) were also leading on one seat each.
National Conference vice-president and former J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah was leading on both seats while Pradesh Congress President Tariq Hameed Karra, AICC general secretary Ghulam Ahmad Mir, CPI(M) leader M Y Tarigami and former BJP minister Sham Lal Sharma and Devender Singh Rana were ahead of their nearest contestants.
However, J&K BJP president Ravinder Raina was trailing by 2,797 votes to his nearest National Conference rival Surinder Choudhary from the Nowshera constituency.
The counting of votes began at 8 am at 28 counting centres for the 90 seats of the Jammu and Kashmir assembly which went to polls in three phases.
On the other hand, the early trends of the Haryana Assembly elections results have thrown up a surprise with BJP)and Congress locked in a see-saw battle. When counting started at 8 am, Congress took a modest lead over the ruling party but within two hours, BJP took a decisive lead.
The EC data showed BJP was surging ahead of its rival, crossing the halfway mark. Till the filing of the report, BJP managed a lead in 48 seats out of the 90-member assembly while Congress was ahead in 34 seats, belying a popular perception and the pollsters' prediction that it was slated to sweep the state.
Regional satraps, including Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) were not seen making a mark and leading only on one seat each. Among the heavyweights, Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini was leading in the Ladwa seat of Kurukshetra district while Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda was leading in the Garhi Sampla-Kiloi constituency of Rohtak district.
BJP leader Anil Vij was leading from his Ambala Cantt seat while INLD leader Abhay Singh Chautala was ahead in his Ellenabad constituency. In the last assembly elections in 2019, BJP bagged 40 seats while Congress secured 31 and Dushyant Chautala-led JJP grabbed 10 seats.
BJP and JJP joined hands to form the government. However, the alliance broke down when Nayab Singh Saini was made the state chief minister, six months ago. The recently held Lok Sabha elections delivered a blow to BJP as it could taste victory in just five out of 10 seats, giving Congress much hope and promise to repeat the same feat this time.
