Congress sweeps Polls in all three states

The Congress is headed for forming governments in Maharashtra and Haryana, retaining power with slightly reduced numbers, while it is poised for a clean sweep in Arunachal Pradesh.

The elections are being seen as a first major test of strength for the Congress-led government which has been in power for nearly six months now.Analysts say the results will help the government push ahead with its economic reforms.

Congress, along with ally NCP, is leading in 137 assembly seats in Maharashtra[/COLOR].The alliance had won 140 seats in the last elections. It is also making good progress in Haryana and Arunachal Pradesh, according to latest trends after counting began this morning.

Congress is set to retain power in Haryana having won three seats results of which were declared while the ruling party was leading in 30 of the 67 constituencies the trends of which were available following the counting of votes for the 90 member state assembly.

Of the 67 seats for which trends were available Congress, which needs 45 seats to retain power, was leading in 30 seats and Om Parkash Chautala led INLD, which faired badly in the recent Lok Sabha elections, was leading in 18 constituencies.

In Arunachal Pradesh where the ruling Congress won three seats without contest,is poised for a clean sweep, the party won another three seats today and was leading in 20 others as counting of votes progressed to pick a new 60-member legislature.

Polling took place for 57 seats on Oct 13 after three candidates were declared elected unopposed in Arunachal. They included chief minister Dorjee Khandu and two more Congress members, Tsewang Dhondup and Jambey Tashi.

In Maharashtra, Congress and its regional ally Nationalist Congress Party have secured a comfortable lead.In the 288-member Maharasthra Assembly, Congress-NCP combine is leading in 137 seats as against Shiv Sena-BJP coalition which is ahead in 100 seats. The Raj Thackeray-led MNS is leading in 15 constituencies.Maharashtra is one of India's most important states. Its capital, Mumbai, is the country's financial centre. The Congress has ruled the state for the last two terms with its ally the NCP.

Senior BJP leader Gopinath Munde has said the party has conceded defeat based on trends available which showed the ruling Cong-NCP combine was clearly ahead in a majority of constituencies.