NEW DELHI: Initial

exit polls

released on Saturday predicted a Congress sweep in Haryana with the party winning around 59 seats, the BJP 21 seats and INLD 5 seats.
As per pollster Matrize, Congress is expected to win 55-62 seats, BJP 18-24, INLD 3-6, JJP 0-3 and others 2-5.
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.

The exit polls results give an indication of what the political landscape may look like after results are officially declared by the Election Commission on October 8.
The outcome of the elections is expected to have broader implications for national politics and may hold clues of how Maharashtra and Jharkhand — which will go to the polls by the end of the year — will vote.

BJP’s Nayab Singh Saini’s government faced challenges from opposition parties like Congress and AAP, who leveraged local issues, specially farmers’ rights, to gain traction among voters.
The BJP is aiming to secure a third consecutive term, but the opposition’s strategies may challenge its hold on power.
The main issues that influenced voters included agricultural distress such as farmers’ grievances, particularly crop prices and debt. Youth employment has also been a major poll issue with the Congress attacking several of the Centre’s schemes including Agnipath.