Chandigarh, Oct 8 (PTI) Bucking anti-incumbency, the ruling BJP pulled off a hat-trick of wins in Haryana to retain power and halt Congress' comeback attempt in the assembly elections, results of which were announced Tuesday.
While the BJP ended up with its best-ever haul of 48 seats, 11 more than the Congress, parties like the JJP and the AAP were decimated and the INLD managed to win just two seats. AAP had contested on its own.
Proving wrong exit polls which predicted a comfortable Congress win, the BJP will be forming government in Haryana for the third consecutive term.
The party had contested 89 of the 90 seats. It did not contest Sirsa seat, from where its ally Gopal Kanda was a sitting MLA, though Kanda lost his seat.
The Congress also contested 89 seats leaving Bhiwani constituency for the CPI (M).
While BJP won 48 seats, bettering its tally of 47 in 2014, Congress won 37, INLD 2 while three Independents also tasted win.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the win saying it was due to good-governance that all communities voted for the BJP.
Our guarantee of 'vikas' prevailed over the pack of lies spread by the Congress and people wrote new history electing us for a third term, he told party cadres in Delhi.
"Once the people throw out Congress, they do not let it come back. They put 'no entry' boards for Congress... it is a party that always thought power was its birthright," the prime minister said.
Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge termed the Haryana results "unexpected" and said his party will assess the people's mandate.
Among prominent candidates who won included Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini (Ladwa), Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda (Garhi Sampla-Kiloi), BJP's Anil Vij (Ambala Cantt), Shruti Choudhry (Tosham), INLD's Arjun Chautala (Rania) and Aditya Devi Lal (Dabwali), Congress' Vinesh Phogat (Julana), Aditya Surjewala (Kaithal), Geeta Bhukkal (Jhajjar), BJP's Arti Singh Rao (Ateli) and Independent candidate Savitri Jindal (Hisar).
Those who lost included INLD's Abhay Singh Chautala (Ellenabad), JJP's Dushyant Chautala and Digvijay Chautala (Dabwali), Speaker in outgoing Assembly and BJP's Gian Chand Gupta, Congress's Brijendra Singh, Aam Aadmi Party's Anurag Dhanda (Kalayat), BJP's O P Dhankar (Badli), Capt Abhimanyu (Narnaund), Haryana Lokhit Party's Gopal Kanda (Sirsa) and Ranjit Chautala, an Independent (Rania).
Haryana Congress president Udai Bhan and BJP's Bhavya Bishnoi, son of Kuldeep Bishnoi and grandson of former chief minister Bhajan Lal, also lost.
Bhavya lost from Adampur in Hisar district, which had been Bhajan Lal's family citadel for more than five decades.
Haryana went to polls on October 5 in a single phase.
The BJP secured a vote share of 39.94 per cent, which was close to Congress' 39.09, but winning and nearest rival were separated by number of seats won.
In the 2019 assembly polls, when BJP had won 40 of the 90 seats, it had got a vote share of 36.49 while Congress, which had then won 31 seats with a vote share of 28.08 per cent.
The JJP, which contested the polls in alliance with Azad Samaj Party, suffered heavy loss of vote share as after having won 10 seats in 2019 the party had secured nearly 15 per cent which now fell to 0.90 per cent.
In the outgoing assembly, the BJP had 41 MLAs (including the Adampur seat won in 2022 bypoll), the Congress 28 MLAs, the JJP (6), while the Haryana Lokhit Party and Indian National Lok Dal one member each. There were four Independents, while nine seats were vacant.
A total of 1,031 candidates, including 464 Independents and 101 women, were in the fray this time.
Thirteen woman candidates also made it to the assembly which included many new faces like Congress' Vinesh Phogat (Julana), Pooja Chaudhary (Mulana) and BJP's Shakti Rani Sharma (Kalka). Independent candidate Savitri Jindal, mother of BJP MP Naveen Jindal, won from Hisar.
Thanking the voters while speaking to reporters, Haryana Chief Minister Saini said people have "put a stamp" on the government's policies under the leadership of Modi.
Senior Congress leader Hooda said the poll outcome was opposite to what the atmosphere in the state was.
"The results have left us 'achambhit' (stunned) and the BJP must also be 'achambhit'. These results are opposite to what the atmosphere was in the state," he said.
Bringing Saini, a OBC face, to replace Manohar Lal Khattar as chief minister in March appeared to have worked to the advantage of the BJP.
Notably, OBCs constitute nearly 35 per cent of state population while Jats constitute nearly 25 per cent while Dalits constitute nearly 20 per cent.
During campaigning, the BJP had targeted the Congress with the 'kharchi-parchi' (bribery and favouritism) in government jobs during Hooda's 10-year dispensation.
It also promised 2 lakh government jobs for youths without 'kharchi-parchi'.
The ruling party highlighted providing MSP on 24 crops in Haryana, claiming that it was the first state in the country to do so.
In its poll promises, the BJP promised Rs 2,100 per month to women under the Lado Lakshmi Yojna and also announced to give a cooking gas cylinder at Rs 500 under the Har Ghar Grihni Yojna, appeared to have worked.
When Saini took over as chief minister, the ruling BJP in Haryana was facing anti-incumbency as it had been in power for nine-and-a-half years.
The BJP created history in 2014 when it came to power for the first time in Haryana, winning 47 seats.
Announcing Saini as the chief ministerial face for the state assembly polls, the BJP was looking to consolidate non-Jat votes in Haryana where caste equations play a key role in the electoral success of a political party.
While the BJP was looking to consolidate non-Jat votes and on the other hand the Congress was relying on consolidation of Jat votes.
The BJP's consistent attack on the Congress over the Dalit issue also appeared to have found resonance among voters.
Modi in his poll speeches went acerbic and called the Congress the biggest "anti-Dalit" party and also reminded voters about the 2005 Gohana and 2010 Mirchpur incidents.
The BJP also targeted the Congress over its alleged infighting with Home Minister Amit Shah accusing the grand old party of insulting Dalit leaders like Kumari Selja.
Congress failed to put up a united fight and its factionalism was exploited by the ruling BJP in their entire campaign which included taking potshots at the grand old party over not-so-good equations between Bhupinder Hooda and prominent Dalit face Kumari Selja.
Unlike the BJP, which has a well-organised and has a strong organisational structure till the grass-roots level, the Congress failed to set up its complete organisational structure in Haryana for past many years now.
The BJP not only took the bold decision of bringing in Saini months before the polls as chief minister, unlike Congress which nominated all its sitting MLAs, the BJP denied re-nomination to several of its sitting MLAs by bringing in new faces which paid off.
However, like in last assembly polls, this time too eight out of 10 ministers under the Saini government faced defeat. Prominent among those included Kamal Gupta, who lost from Hisar, Aseem Goel from Ambala City, Kanwar Pal from Jagadhri and Abhe Singh Yadav from Nangal Chaudhary.
Haryana Assembly Speaker Gupta was also defeated from his Panchkula seat from where Congress party's Chander Mohan was declared winner.
The counting of votes began at 8 am amid tight security. Several exit polls had predicted a comfortable victory for the Congress in Haryana but the BJP consolidated as the counting progressed.
As the BJP won for a third consecutive term, party workers and leaders were in a jubilant lot, distributing 'ladoos' and sweets with many dancing to the beats of 'dhols'.
In sharp contrast, the mood in the Congress camp, which had witnessed brief celebrations by workers in the morning after some TV channels put the grand old party ahead in early trends, changed as the day progressed as it became clear the trends were not holding and several exit polls had also been proved wrong.