The Congress romped home victorious for a third straight term in Maharashtra, swept Arunachal Pradesh with a two-third majority but its snap poll gamble failed in Haryana falling short of six seats in a hung house.
The poll outcome in the first major test for political parties after the May Lok Sabha polls mirrored Congress's showing, though it fell short of expectations in Haryana where a resurgent Indian National Lok Dal put up a good show.
Despite a two per cent vote swing against it, the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party combine ruling Maharashtra for the past ten years beat the anti-incumbency factor and clung to power getting four more seats getting 144 in a house of 288.
The Congress-NCP alliance, which had won 140 seats in the last elections, may end up with almost the same figure and may not have problems in forming the government with the support of rebels of both the parties and independents.
In Haryana, the Congress was scrambling to get support of six MLAs to cobble up a majority in the 90-member house. Congress emerged as the single largest party winning 40 seats, six short of majority. It lost 27 seats. In contrast Om Prakash Chautala's INLD got 22 more seats to get 31. Bhajan Lal's Haryana Janhit Congress with six seats is expected to be a key player.
Its leader Kuldeep Bishnoi said the party was getting feelers for an alliance from both Chautala and Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.
As Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has made it clear that it will not stake claim to chief minister's post, the process of government formation is likely to get speeded up, a senior Congress leader said.
Chief minister Ashok Chavan, in race for the top job, said the ruling alliance's performance was due to the dynamic leadership of Congress president Sonia Gandhi and team work by Congress-NCP combine.
Meanwhile, the surprise results in Haryana showed that the Congress attempts to cash in on its spectacular performance in Lok Sabha elections when it won 9 of the 10 seats did not fructify. Congress tally was reduced from 67 in 2005 to 40 today.
The party advanced the elections by seven months. The opposition Indian National Lok Dal led by Om Prakash Chautala put up a good show, winning 31 seats compared to nine it had in the dissolved assembly.
However, the CM, who had the satisfaction of winning with the largest margin of 71,200 votes from Garhi Sampla-Kiloi seat, said the Congress was all set to return to power for a second term. He said he was a candidate for the top post but 'not a claimant.'
Haryana Congress chief Phool Chand Mullana and transport minister Mange Ram Gupta lost from Mullana and Jind to INLD.
Among other prominent winners are HJC-BL chief Kuldeep Bishnoi, who won the Adampur and Haryana BJP President Krishan Pal Gujjar, who was declared elected from Tigaon.
The ruling Congress party in Arunachal Pradesh will form the next government for the second straight term, having already won 38 of 60 assembly seats as counting of votes progressed Thursday.
Of the 55 results declared, the Congress party won 38 seats, Trinamool Congress won five seats, six by the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), two by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and four by independents and candidates belonging to smaller regional parties.
The Congress is leading in four more seats, according to latest trends available.
Apart from the Congress party, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) fielded 36 candidates, and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) 22 -- although the surprise element was the Trinamool Congress with several candidates in the fray.
Of the Trinamool Congress nominees, five are former Congress party ministers and 10 are sitting MLAs from the ruling party who were denied tickets this time.
"The Army is the last resort in internal security measures and the government does not intend to use it against Maoist activities," he told reporters. 
