New Delhi, Oct 8 (IANS): The early trends of the Haryana Assembly elections have turned out to be a thriller, with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress witnessing a see-saw battle.

When counting started at 8 a.m., the Congress took a modest lead over the ruling party but within two hours of counting, the BJP took a decisive lead over the Opposition party.

The Election Commission (EC) data also showed the BJP surging ahead of its rival and crossing the halfway mark. Till this report was filed, the BJP has managed a lead in 48 seats out of the 90-member Assembly.

Congress was seen leading in 34 seats, belying a popular perception and the Exit polls that it was slated to sweep the state.

Regional satraps, including Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), were not seen making a mark and leading only on one seat each.

Among the heavyweight candidates, Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini was seen leading in his Ladwa seat of Kurukshetra district, Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda was leading in the Garhi Sampla-Kiloi constituency of Rohtak district.

According to early trends, BJP leader Anil Vij was leading from his Ambala Cantt seat while INLD leader Abhay Singh Chautala was ahead in his Ellenabad constituency.

In previous Haryana Assembly elections in 2019, the BJP had won 40 seats while Congress secured 31 and Dushyant Chautala-led JJP grabbed 10 seats. BJP and Dushyant Chautala's party joined hands to form the government in the state. However, their alliance broke down when Nayab Singh Saini became the state chief minister, six months ago.

The recently held 2024 Lok Sabha had delivered a blow to BJP as it could garner a victory in just five out of 10 seats, thereby giving Congress much hope and promise to repeat the same feat this time.