Haryana Chief Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Nayab Singh Saini was leading in the Ladwa Assembly constituency as the votes were being counted in the Assembly elections, data from the Election Commission showed.

At 3 pm, Saini was ahead of Congress candidate Mewa Singh by a margin of 16,120 votes.

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In the Ambala Cantonment constituency, BJP leader and the state’s former home minister Anil Vij, after briefly trailing behind Independent candidate Chitra Sarwara, was leading by 8,751 votes, as per data from the Election Commission.

The Congress’ Parvinder Pal Pari was placed third.

Sarwara was suspended from the Congress on September 30 for “anti-party activities”.

On September 15, Vij said that he would stake claim for the chief minister’s post if the party retained power in the polls.

Vij had stated that he was the senior-most MLA of the BJP in Haryana.

“I have contested elections for six times,” he had said. “On the demand of people, I will claim for the designation of chief minister on the basis of my seniority this time.”

However, soon after Vij’s comment, Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan, the BJP’s election coordinator in Haryana, had said that Saini was the party’s chief ministerial candidate.

Vij has represented the Ambala Cantonment seat six times.

The Legislative Assembly in Haryana has 90 members and 46 seats are required for a majority.

The Assembly polls in Haryana took place in a single phase on Saturday. A turnout of 67.9% was recorded.

Most exit polls had projected the Congress to win a clear majority.

Also read: Organised chaos: Why BJP is encouraging multiple chief minister claimants in Haryana