The results of the Assembly elections in Haryana and Maharashtra were announced yesterday, with some surprises, especially as Haryana seems headed for a hung Assembly. After an action-packed day of numbers and debates, today’s newspapers did their best to showcase the results on their front pages.

Leading with “BJP, but…”, The Indian Express said the results did not go “according to script” for the BJP. A smaller story pointed out Rahul Gandhi, saying “his silence is also the story of the Congress this Assembly election”, since Gandhi hasn’t said anything about the election on Twitter as of 10 am today.

Indian Express‘s editorial said there are “unmistakable messages writ on the Haryana and Maharashtra walls”. It said: “For some time now, it had seemed that the BJP had been able to accomplish two feats — to separate the economic from the political, and to subsume the political into a test of nationalism. These election results indicate that that separation, that distraction, may no longer be working as well to the BJP’s advantage as it did in the past.”

The front page of the Maharashtra edition of The Times of India was packed with election news, from pointing out the Maharashtra Assembly has the highest number of women in its history to lauding NCP chief Sharad Pawar: “Like the long-in-the-tooth angler in Ernest Hemingway’s ‘The Old Man and the Sea’, Sharad Pawar might still be in search of the big fish, but there is no doubt at all that he is one of the big winners of this assembly election.”

Hindustan Times called Pawar a “warhorse” too. The report said: “The polls have also brought into focus the intersection of national and state elections, national and state issues, national and local leaders, and the salience of both identity politics and economic concerns.”

Mid-day‘s strapline said Devendra Fadnavis had been “grounded” by voters who had “sounded a warning bell for the ruling parties to get their act together while running the next saffron government”.

Mumbai Mirror devoted its top story to Sharad Pawar, saying he “single-handedly” prevented the BJP-Sena alliance from “running away with the elections”.

The Haryana edition of The Tribune said Khattar “seems set to head a minority government in the state”, adding that a key Congress meeting takes place today with Sonia Gandhi. Page 6 had a helpful colour-coded map pointed out the wins across the state.

The editorial on Page 8 called this a “wake-up call” for the BJP: “In the self-congratulatory mode after the abrogation of Article 370, the BJP came a cropper in addressing the concerns of farmers and other major vote banks. The voters of Haryana and Maharashtra have pricked the party’s bubble of invincibility.”

Lok Satta, the Marathi daily owned by the Indian Express group, led with a cartoon that roughly translates to “Government formed, but…”

Saamna, the Marathi newspaper published by the Shiv Sena, announced that the “key to power” lies in the hands of the  Shivsainik. The blurb acknowledged that Sharad Pawar showed his power and the Congress also benefited.

And, of course, there’s The Telegraph.