After a neck to neck battle in Uttarakhand, both the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party claim they will form the next government in the hill state.
Both the camps have begun back channel talks on forming the government. The Congress and the BJP are banking on the support of
three Independents, all of whom have a Congress background.
Preetam Panwar, the lone MLA of the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal, has also been approached.
Though the Congress has performed quite well in the hill districts, the party has suffered a setback in the plains. It could win only in five seats in two major districts - Haridwar and Udhamsingh Nagar - which together account for 20 seats.
Of the 11 assembly seats in Haridwar, the party won only three.
In the 2007 assembly polls, the BJP had got 34 seats, two fewer than the 36 needed. In the 2012 assembly polls, the BJP tally could not cross 31 whereas the Congress too has fallen four short of 36.