Congress Trails as BJP Edges Toward Haryana Election Victory Despite Counting Concerns

Vinesh Phogat of Congress leads with 45,293 votes in Haryana elections, while BJP edges towards majority. Discrepancies in vote counts raise concerns among Congress leaders. BJPs Chief Minister candidate Nayab Singh Saini leads in Ladwa, while Congress and Independents show strong presence in other constituencies.

In a closely contested Haryana assembly election, Congress candidate Vinesh Phogat is leading with 45,293 votes after the completion of 12 rounds of counting. Meanwhile, BJP candidate Yogesh Kumar is trailing by a margin of 4,142 votes. As of noon on Tuesday, the ruling BJP crossed the majority mark, leading in 48 seats, while the Congress was ahead in 35 seats, according to the latest trends available on the Election Commission website.

Notably, Chief Minister candidate for BJP, Nayab Singh Saini, is leading from the Ladwa constituency with a significant margin of 32,708 votes over Congress' Mewa Singh. In the Garhi Sampla-Kiloi seat, Congress veteran Bhupinder Singh Hooda is leading with 56,875 votes, ahead of his BJP rival Manju.

As the BJP inches closer to securing a third consecutive term in the Haryana assembly, the Congress has raised alarms over perceived discrepancies in the vote counting process. Concerns have been voiced regarding a mismatch in the number of rounds counted and those displayed by the Election Commission. Senior Congress leaders, including Pawan Khera, have openly questioned the delays and inconsistencies in data updates, suggesting that these may be calculated moves to manipulate perceptions during the vote count.

Further concerns were echoed by Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, who accused the EC of potentially influencing the results by slowing down the updates of counting trends on their official website. He drew parallels to previous elections, questioning if similar tactics were being employed.

Meanwhile, as of the latest updates at 12.40 pm, BJP candidates led in 49 out of 90 constituencies, with Congress leading in 35. Independents and candidates from INLD and BSP are also in the fray. Despite earlier exit polls predicting a Congress win, if the current trends continue, BJP is poised for a hat-trick victory in the state assembly elections.