EXIT TO EXACT: Haryana stays saffron, J&K goes NC-Cong way

BJP secures 48 seats in Haryana for historic third straight term, NC-Congress alliance wins 49 seats in J&K

- VINAY KUMAR/SWATI MAHAJAN

NEW DELHI: Demolishing all exit poll forecasts, the ruling BJP on Tuesday scored a historic hat trick in Haryana, winning 48 of the state's 90 Assembly seats. In the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, where Assembly elections were held after a decade, the National Conference and Congress alliance secured 49 out of 90 seats.

While Nayab Singh Saini, the 54-year-old OBC leader who was appointed as Haryana CM just six months ago to replace Manohar Lal Khattar in an unexpected move, is likely to retain his post, NC President Farooq Abdullah announced that his son and party leader Omar Abdullah will be the chief minister, a position he held between 2009 and 2014.