New Delhi, Oct 8 : The BJP, which was leading in Haryana, hit the majority mark of 46 in the 90-member Assembly, as per the latest Election Commission of India (ECI) data.

The BJP was leading in 46 seats, the Congress in 37, the INLD in one seat, the BSP in one and five Independent candidates were also ahead.

The prospective chief ministerial faces of both parties -- Nayab Singh Saini of the BJP and Bhupinder Hooda of the Congress -- were leading in their respective seats.

The BJP is aiming for the third consecutive term and the principal Opposition Congress is predicting a comeback in Haryana.

Several exit polls have predicted a Congress victory in Haryana which recorded a voter turnout of 67.90 per cent. However, the BJP has claimed it will return to power for a third consecutive term in Haryana.

The counting of votes for the 90-member Assembly was peacefully underway at 93 counting centres in all 22 districts. Two counting centres each were set up for the Badshahpur, Gurugram and Pataudi Assembly constituencies, while one counting centre each has been established for the remaining 87 Assembly constituencies, said Chief Electoral Officer Pankaj Agarwal.

Agarwal said 30 companies of Central Armed Police Forces have been deployed at all counting centres. Central security forces have been deployed in the innermost security cover. After that, state-armed police and district police personnel were deployed in the outermost cover. Around 12,000 police personnel were on duty.

A total of 67.90 per cent of voting took place in the election on October 5. The highest -- 75.36 per cent -- was recorded in the Sirsa district and the lowest -- 56.49 per cent -- was recorded in the Faridabad district.

Constituency-wise, the highest 80.61 per cent voting was recorded in Ellenabad and the lowest 48.27 per cent voting was in Badkhal. A majority of exit polls predicted the Congress would wrest power from the BJP in Haryana after remaining in opposition for 10 years.

The Congress carried a high-decibel campaign under former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and exit polls gave them a majority. However, predicting a historic win for the third consecutive term, Chief Minister and BJP candidate from Ladwa Assembly seat, Nayab Singh Saini, said they do not need any alliance as they would form the government on their own.

The Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), JannayakJanata Party (JJP) and the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) are also in the fray. Many Independents, mostly BJP rebels, made the contest multi-cornered on several seats.

The BJP's vote share in the October 2019 Assembly election was 36.49 per cent when the party could not cross the halfway mark in the 90-member Assembly and stitched a post-poll alliance with the JJP. The Congress registered over a 15 per cent rise in its vote share in 2024 in comparison to the 2019 Parliamentary election vote share.

/IANS