Haryana Election Result 2024: How Congress's Bhupinder Hooda reacted to shocking turnaround | Watch

Congress leader Bhupinder Hooda, who was pinning his hopes on being the Haryana Chief Minister again, appeared downcast on Tuesday morning after the stunning turnaround saw BJP gaining a lead in the state. Exit polls had predicted that Congress would sweep the elections and early trends showed the party clearing the absolute majority within a hours.  

But, the tables soon turned with BJP racing ahead with over 50 seats. This came as a rude shocker to Hooda, who was watching the results from the Congress election office in Rohtak.

Also read: Haryana Election Results 2024 LIVE: Is BJP headed for hat-trick? Congress halts celebrations after losing early leads

However, he expressed confidence in forming a government, at least in words. "The Congress is going to form a government in the state. Only two or three rounds of counting have been completed. We see reports about how the Congress is getting a majority," he told reporters. 

Hooda, the Congress candidate in Rohtak's Garhi Sampla-Kiloi constituency, has established a steady lead of over 16,000 votes. 

Asked whether his party would require any support for forming the government, Hooda expressed Congress will form the government on its own. "The credit will go to Rahul Gandhi ji, Mallikarjun Kharge ji, Priyanka Gandhi ji, and other leaders," he said.

The initial excitement visible at the AICC office in Delhi too seemed to have waned. Congress General Secretary in-charge Communications, Jairam Ramesh too told reporters that the game was not over yet. "There is no need to be disheartened. Mind games are being played. We will not deter, there is no need to be disheartened. We are going to get the mandate. Congress is going to form the government," Ramesh added. 

The mood in Haryana too shifted as BJP workers began celebrating at the party office in Ambala, as they monitored the counting trends.