The ruling Congress has romped back to power in Maharashtra for the third consecutive term and won a landslide victory in Arunachal Pradesh. However, it fell short of majority in Haryana. The Congress-NCP alliance which has been ruling Maharashtra for the past 10 years has won 142 and is leading in two in the 288-member Assembly. The party needs one more seat for a simple majority. The alliance has marginally improved its performance in the last elections when it got 140. The Raj Thackeray led MNS which made its debut in the Assembly by winning 13 seats played the spoilsport for the Shiv Sena-BJP combine. The saffron combine got 90 seats, which is 26 seats less than their tally in 2004. BJP got 46 and Shiv Sena 44. The spectacular showing of the Congress in Arunachal Pradesh saw the party gain a two-third majority winning 42 seats in the 60-memebr assembly. It had won 34 seats last time. In Haryana, the Congress has emerged as the single largest party winning 40 seats, six short of majority.<br/><br/>Prominent winners include Maharashtra Chief Ministers, Ashok Chavan, Haryana Chief Minister, Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Arunachal Chief Minister, Dorjee Khandu. The ruling Congress in Haryana seemed close to power again with the party remaining just six short of majority. The party has won 40 seats. INLD has bagged 31, BJP four, Shiromani Akali Dal and BSP one each, Haryana Janhit Congress six and Independents seven.<br/><br/>In Arunachal Pradesh, the ruling Congress stormed back to power with a two-third majority winning 41 seats and leading in one constituency in the 60-member house. NCP got five, BJP two and leading in one. Ten seats have gone in favour of others. Congress says, its victory in the assembly polls is an endorsement of the policies of the UPA Government. Talking to AIR, senior party leader, Renuka Chaudhary said, it has added further responsibility to the party to rise to the expectations of the people.<br/><br/>The BJP has described the election results in the three states are disappointing. The party spokesperson, Mr. Ravi Shanker Prasad told reporters in New Delhi that in Maharashtra anti incumbency votes were divided and MNS played a big role in damaging 40 seats for BJP and Shiv Sena combine. He said the Congress performance in Haryana was not satisfactory as it could not muster absolute majority. Mr. Prasad said defection of party MLAs in Arunachal Pradesh helped Congress. He said the party would discuss its shortcomings threadbare and address the issues for defeat.<br/><br/>The Communist Party of India has said the election results are on the expected lines. Speaking to AIR, CPI general secretary, Mr. A B Bardhan said people have rejected the communal forces and results are not surprising. Mr Bardhan said the Left will work hard to regain its place.<br/><br/>News Services Division will broadcast a special live bilingual Phone-in programme from 9.30 to 10.30 tonight on the verdict of the assembly elections. Listeners can interact with the experts in our Delhi Studios on telephone number: 011-23314444. The LIVE discussion and the Phone-in Programme will be available on Rajdhani and FM Gold Channels and additional frequencies.<br/><br/>BJP says the Congress has benefited from the division of votes of the opposition parties in Maharashtra and Haryana. Speaking to AIR, party leader Mr Vijay Goel, in charge of Haryana, said Indian National Lok Dal and Haryana Jan Hit Congress split the votes and Congress gained from it. He, however, said the party has got more votes this time in Haryana.