BJP leading in Jharkhand, Hung Assembly in J&K

Counting has begun into 81 assembly seats in Jharkhand and 87 seats in Jammu & Kashmir this morning. If we believe the early trends, BJP is heading towards a majority in Jharkhand, which is all set to get a majority government this time, ensuring stability for five years. JMM and Congress are way behind in the early trends.

In Jammu & Kashmir, people in both Jammu and the Valley seems to have given a mandate to Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s People’s Democratic Party (PDP), but short of majority, while BJP has emerged as the second largest party ahead of National Conference and Congress and is giving a tough fight to the PDP. It would be interesting to see whether J&K will witness a hung assembly or get a majority government.

The PDP may get a comfortable majority, while BJP will get the main opposition status. The interesting part is that PDP has made inroads into Jammu, which remained the stronghold of Congress and BJP for long. BJP would be happy with its performance in J&K, as its previous best was 11 in 2008 polls. The party has also made its presence felt in the Kashmir Valley for the first time.

In Jharkhand, BJP is ahead in 47 seats, while JMM is leading in 23 seats. Congress is leading in just 5 seats. JVM is leading in 4 seats. In J&K, PDP is ahead in 20 seats, while BJP is leading in 24 seats. NC and Congress are leading in 19 and 16 seats respectively.