New Delhi, Oct. 8 -- The Congress appears to have far underperformed expectations and predictions in the Haryana assembly elections, according to early trends.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was leading in 47 seats in the 90-member Haryana assembly as compared to 36 seats for the Congress, as of 11am. However, the Congress had a higher vote share of 40.57%, as compared to about 38.80% for the BJP. The majority mark in the state is 46 seats.

Early trends showed that the Haryana contest is far closer than anticipated, with 25% of the votes in the states counted.

The Congress, it seems, was far too dependent on former chief minister and senior leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda, an overreliance that has not paid off. The Congress believed Jat...