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The saffron party’s estranged partner Shiv Sena, which is emerging as the second largest party, has given clear indications that it is willing to patch up and if that happens, they would have two-third majority in the Assembly.

The band prepares for celebrations outside the BJP headquarters in New Delhi.

2:00 pm: As per the Election Commission till 1 PM, out of total 90 seats, BJP has won eight and was leading comfortably on 43 others, Congress bagged three and leading in 11, Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) won three and leading in 18 while its ally Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) had won one.

Independents bagged one seat and were leading in four others while Haryana Janhit Congress is leading in two seats.

1:53 pm: Ruling Congress’ sitting MLA from Rai Assembly segment in Sonepat district, Haryana, Jai Tirath Dahiya won by a thin margin of three votes defeating his nearest rival of the Indian National Lok Dal.

1.50 pm: "First time we fought on our own in Maharashtra. As an alliance partner of Shiv Sena we used to fight 119 seats. Now on our own we have won almost the same number of seats. It is big victory. Parliamentary Board is meeting at 6 pm to decide future course of action," says former BJP president Nitin Gadkari

1.48 pm: Former Maharashtra CM Prithviraj Chavan watching election results at his Karad home. Photo: Uday Deolekar

1.47 pm: In Alibaug constituency, Peasants and Workers Party (PWP) candidate Pandit Patil defeated his nearest rival Mahendra Dalvi of Shiv Sena by over 12,000 votes. Baglan seat was won by NCP’s Dipika Sanjay Chavan by a close margin of 4,181 votes.

1.45 pm: BJP’s Dilip Kamble won the Pune cantonment seat by defeating sitting Congress MLA Ramesh Bagwe by 14,955 votes. Bharat Gogavale of Shiv Sena won the Mahad seat in Raigad by defeating Congress’ Manik Jagtap by over 19,000 votes.

1.43 pm: The All India Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen has surprised many as it leads on four seats in Maharashtra, including one in Mumbai.

1.38 pm: Maharashtra state Congress president Manikrao Thakre resigns

1.36 pm: BJP racing ahead of BSP in North Nagpur seat

1.35 pm: Nagender Bhadana of INLD defeats Pandit Shiv Charan Lal Sharma, an Independent candidate, by 2,914 votes from Faridabad NIT constituency. Naseem Ahmed of INLD defeats Mamman Khan, Independent candidate, by 3,245 votes from Ferozepur Jhirka. Jagbir Singh Malik of Congress defeats Krishan Chander Banger of INLD by 3,228 votes from Gohana

1.33 pm: Ved Narang of INLD defeats BJP’s Surender Punia by 10,261 votes from Barwala constituency. Bishamber Singh of BJP defeats INLD’s Dayabhurtana by 2,559 votes from Bawani Khera (SC) constituency. Rajdeep of INLD defeats Somvir of BJP by 1,610 votes from Dadri.

1.31 pm: BJD’s Pratyusha Rajeswari wins Kandhamal Lok Sabha by-election in Odisha by a margin of nearly three lakh votes

1.30 pm: INLD’s Ashok Arora loses by 25638 votes from Thanesar Assembly constituency to BJP’s Subhash Sudha

1.28 pm: Mohit Kamboj of BJP, richest candidate in fray in Maharashtra, loses to Sunil Prabhu of Shiv Sena from Dindoshi

The BJP took early leads Sunday in Maharashtra as officials counted millions of votes polled in assembly elections.

Having dumped long-time ally Shiv Sena ahead of the election, the Bharatiya Janata Party led in 75 of the 288 seats in the state, followed by the Shiv Sena at a distant 37.

The Congress was leading in 15 seats and its erstwhile ally, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), in 19. The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena led in one seat.

Seeing the writing on the wall, the NCP blamed the Congress for the impending rout.
"It all happened because of Chavan," NCP’s Nawab Malik told the media, referring to former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan of the Congress.

"He had no understanding of the issues in Maharashtra, he did not take the right decisions, and he didn’t act when he had to. He is responsible for the state of both the Congress and the NCP," Malik said.

The NCP and Congress have been in power in Mahrashtra for 15 years. The coalition came apart just before the Oct 15 polls, leading to President’s Rule in the state.

Counting of votes for the Maharashtra and Haryana Assembly elections has started. 

Here are the LIVE updates:

09:36 am: Haryana poll results/trends: BJP- 50, Congress- 14, INLD- 21, HJC: 1, Others: 4.

09:33 am: Maharashtra poll results/trends: BJP and allies: 120, Shiv Sena- 66, Congress- 43, NCP: 39, MNS: 04, Others: 15.

09:31 am: BJP is getting more seats as per trends, but Shiv Sena is also performing well: Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut.

09:29 am: Haryana poll results/trends: BJP- 49, Congress- 16, INLD- 20, HJC: 2, Others: 2.

09:24 am: Prem Lata, wife of Birendra Singh and BJP leader, leading in Uchana Kalan.

09:22 am: BJP leader Ram Bilas Sharma leading in Mahendragarh, Haryana.

9:20 am: Maharashtra poll results/trends: BJP and allies: 142, Shiv Sena- 59, Congress- 35, NCP: 35, MNS: 04, Others: 11.

09:18: Congress leader Savitri Jindal leading in Hisar.

09:16 am: NCP leader Pankaj Bhujbal trailing in Nandgaon, Maharashtra.

09:15 am: Maharashtra poll results/trends: BJP and allies: 130, Shiv Sena- 60, Congress- 43, NCP: 39, MNS: 02, Others: 10.

09:13 am: Congress leader Randeep Surjewala leading in Kaithal.

09:10 am: Haryana poll results/trends: BJP- 52, Congress- 16, INLD- 15, HJC: 2, Others: 2.

09:08 am: HLP chief Gopal Kanda trailing in Sirsa, Haryana.

09:07 am: Prithviraj Chavan trailing in Karad South Assembly seat.

09:05 am: Congress leader Amit Deshmukh leading in Latur City.

09:01 am: HJC chief Kuldeep Singh Bishnoi trailing in Adampur, Haryana.

08:58 am: Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda trailing in Garhi Sampla-Kiloi.

08:57 am: Haryana Jan Chetna Party chief Venod Sharma trailing in Ambala City.

08:56 am: Maharashtra poll results/trends: BJP and allies: 112, Shiv Sena- 54, Congress- 41, NCP: 30, MNS: 01. 

08:55 am: Haryana poll results/trends: BJP- 47, Congress- 11, INLD- 21, HJC: 2, Others: 1.

08:51 am: Sushma Swaraj’s sister Vandana Sharma leading in Safidon, Haryana.

08:50 am: INLD leader Abhay Chautala trailing in Ellenabad. 

08:48 am: Haryana poll results/trends: BJP- 45, Congress- 11, INLD- 22, HJC: 3.

08:46 am: Maharashtra poll results/trends: BJP and allies: 88, Shiv Sena- 42, Congress- 25, NCP: 13, MNS: 01.

08:45 am: Haryana poll results/trends: BJP- 41, Congress- 10, INLD- 22, HJC: 3.

08:43 am: INLD leader Dushyant Chautala trailing in Uchana Kalan, Haryana.

08:41: NCP leader RR Patil trailing in Tasgaon, Maharashtra.

08:40 am: Maharashtra poll results/trends: BJP and allies: 70, Shiv Sena- 28, Congress- 24, NCP: 12, MNS: 01.

08:37 am: HJC chief Kuldeep Singh Bishnoi leading in Adampur, Haryana.

08:34 am: Haryana poll results/trends: BJP- 35, Congress- 5, INLD- 9, HJC: 3.

08:33 am: Maharashtra poll results/trends: BJP and allies: 56, Shiv Sena- 20, Congress- 19, NCP: 10.

08:31 am: Gopinath Munde’s daughter Pankaja Munde leading in Parli.

08:29: Mahrashtra BJP chief Devendra Fadanvis leading.

08:28 am: Haryana poll results/trends: BJP- 16, Congress- 3, INLD- 9.

08:27 am: Congress leader Narayan Rane trailing in Kudal Assembly seat.

08:25 am: Maharashtra poll results/trends: BJP and allies: 27, Shiv Sena- 8, Congress- 2.

08:22 am: Haryana poll results/trends: BJP- 8, Congress- 1, INLD- 4.

08:20 am: Maharashtra poll results/trends: BJP- 15, Shiv Sena- 7, Congress- 1, NCP- 1.

08:19 am: I think both parties have suffered because of Prithviraj Chavan in Maharashtra: NCP leader Nawab Malik.

08:17: Latest trends: Maharashtra: BJP - 9, Shiv Sena: 4.

08:15 am: INLD is leading on 1 seat in Haryana.

08:11 am: Trends: BJP leading on 6 seats in Maharashtra and 7 seats in Haryana.

08:10 am: BJP takes early leads in Maharashtra and Haryana.

08:08 am: Some unhappiness in BJP over Pankaja Munde staking claim to CM post. Being dismissed as amateurish by Delhi bosses. Does no good to her prospects: Rahul Kanwal, Managing Editor, TV Today Network.

08:00 am: Counting starts for Maharashtra and Haryana Assembly polls.

07:54 am: Confident that good governance will be established in Haryana and Maharashtra as BJP will form its government: BJP leader Sambit Patra.

07:48 am: BJP is going to win in Haryana with two-thirds majority: BJP leader Captain Abhimanyu.

07:38 am: Counting of votes for the Assembly elections in Maharashtra and Haryana, seen as the first major test of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity after the Lok Sabha polls, will begin today.

07:28 am: The vote counting for the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly and 90-member Haryana Assembly will start at 8 am in the two states which went to polls on October 15.

07:24 am: Haryana recorded its highest-ever turnout of 76.54 per cent while Maharashtra recorded 63.13 per cent polling.

07:20 am: Exit polls have projected that the BJP will emerge as the largest party in both Maharashtra and Haryana stopping short of majority.

07:14 am: Counting will be held across 288 counting centres at 269 locations in Maharashtra. Trends are expected to be available around noon and final results will begin pouring in around 3 pm.

07:12 am: Maharashtra: BJP fielded 257, BSP 260, CPI 34, CPM 19, Congress 287, NCP 278, Shiv Sena 282 and MNS had fielded 219.

07:10 am: Maharashtra: A total of 4,119 candidates contested the poll. Of the 288 constituencies, including 36 constituencies in Mumbai, 234 are general, 29 reserved for scheduled castes and 25 for scheduled tribes.

07:08 am: In Haryana, the fate of the Bhupinder Singh Hooda-led Congress government, which is aiming at a third successive term, and BJP, which is eyeing to form a government on its own, would be known on Sunday.

07:05 am: The state had created history by clocking an all-time high polling of about 76.54 per cent, surpassing maximum of 72.65 per cent in 1967 in the high-stakes battle among top contenders Congress, BJP and INLD in a multi-cornered contest.

07:00 am: Haryana: The fate of 1,351 candidates, including 116 women - the highest number since the formation of the state in 1966, was sealed during the single day polling. Unlike in the recent past, when the fight was mainly between Congress and Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), a number of new players have thrown their hats in the ring this time.