National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah insisted on Sunday that his party would form the Jammu and Kashmir government in alliance with the Congress. The remarks came mere hours after exit polls broached the possibility of a hung Assembly while giving a clear lead to the combine. The NC chief also indicated that his party would welcome a coalition with former Gupkar Alliance member PDP.

“..I am confident that NC and Congress will comfortably form the govt. I congratulate them (to PDP if they want to extend their support to our alliance). We all are on the same path, we need to end the hatred and keep Jammu and Kashmir integrated,” he said.

The Mehbooba Mufti-led party might find itself playing kingmaker in the northern union territory after exit poll broached the possibility of a hung verdict. Six exit polls suggest that no single party will secure a clear majority. However some placed the Congress-NC combine within reach of the majority mark.

PDP leader Zuhaib Yousuf Mir had earlier hinted at the possibility of an alliance with the Congress and NC in order to keep BJP at bay. The Lal Chowk candidate stressed the need to form a secular government ‘against the BJP’ on Friday amid exit polls predictions.

“PDP is confident that it will be an indispensable and important part of the secular government that will form in J-K. PDP will have an important role in forming any secular government,” Mir had said.

“Congratulations to them, this is a great thing. We are all on the same track, nafrat ko hume khatam karna hai, aur Jammu and Kashmir ko ikhate rakhna hai (we need to end the hatred, and keep Jammu and Kashmir united),” Abdullah told ANI in response.

According to TV-Today C-voter projections, the NC-Congress alliance is likely to win 40-48 seats while the BJP can win 27-32. Former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti-led People’s Democratic Party is likely to win 6-12 seats whereas others can win 6-11. As per Dainik Bhaskar’s projection, the NC-Congress alliance can win seats ranging from 35-40. The BJP can win 20-25 seats, PDP 4-7 while the others can win 12-18 seats.

The People Pulse survey has predicted 46-50 seats for the NC-Congress alliance and 23-27 for the BJP. As per them, the PDP can win 7-11 whereas the others can win 4-6 seats.The Gulistan News projection on Republic TV projected 28-30 seats for the National Conference, 3-6 seats for the Congress, 5-7 seats for the PDP and 8-16 seats for other parties and independents.

(With inputs from agencies)

NEW DELHI: Exit polls on Saturday predicted that the Congress will be sweeping back into power in Haryana after a gap of 10 years, while its alliance with the National Conference in Jammu and Kashmir seems to be in a strong position and may form the next government, which last held assembly elections 10 years ago.

Congress to sweep Haryana: Pollsters

Exit polls released on Saturday predicted a Congress sweep in Haryana with the party winning around 55 seats, the BJP 27 seats, INLD 2 seats, JJP 1 seat and others around 5 seats.

In his first reaction to the exit poll results, senior Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda said: “I feel that we will win 65 plus-minus seats. Congress will form the government with a thumping majority.”
Haryana CM and BJP leader Nayab Singh Saini said he was “confident that the BJP would form the government again with a complete majority on October 8”.

“BJP will form the government with full majority. We are confident. Work has been done for every section of society in the last 10 years, and the state has been freed from regionalism and dynastic politics,” said Saini on the exit poll predictions.
The 90 seats of Haryana went to the polls in a single phase on October 5. The majority mark is 46 seats.
The exit polls for the Haryana assembly elections were released shortly after voting concluded around 6pm.
In the 2019 assembly elections, the BJP had won 40 of the 90 seats, forming a coalition government with the JJP, which won 10 seats. However, JJP later broke out of the coalition and BJP relied on independent MLAs to sustain the government. The Congress had secured 31 seats.

Congress-NC have the edge in J&K: Exit polls

Exit polls for the Jammu and Kashmir assembly election have predicted that the Congress-National Conference alliance may win around 43 seats, 3 short of the majority, while the BJP may win 27 seats, PDP 7 and others 13.

With a hung assembly likely, former deputy chief minister of J&K Kavinder Gupta hinted that the BJP is already holding talks with “like-minded” parties.
“It is only in the exit polls that Congress-NC has got these seats, but BJP will emerge as the biggest party once the correct results are out. We are confident of getting more than 35 seats in Jammu province and the remaining from Kashmir. BJP will be in a better condition in Kashmir … Talks are going on with like-minded parties,” Gupta said.
National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah also dismissed the exit poll predictions.
In a post on X, Abdullah said, “I’m amazed channels are bothering with exit polls, especially after the fiasco of the recent general elections. I’m ignoring all the noise on channels, social media, WhatsApp Etc because the only numbers that matter will be revealed on the 8th of Oct. The rest is just time pass.”
The Election Commission of India said that an overall 63.88% voter turnout was recorded in the assembly elections in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, which was held in three phases: September 18, September 25 and October 1.
The counting of votes for Haryana and J&K will take place on October 8.