The BJP retained power in Haryana for a historic third consecutive term, riding on a surprise pro-incumbency mandate that saw its 48 candidates, including its Chief Minster Nayab Singh, winning. The verdict defied projections of the exit polls that had predicted a victory for the Congress.

The Congress, which did well in Lok Sabha elections, winning five out of 10 seats in the state, was projected to continue with its resurgence. The party, however, fell way short and won 36 constituencies and was leading on one more seat, as per the results announced by the Election Commission of India (ECI) till 8.30 pm.

The Indian National Lok Dal of Abhay Chautala won 2 seats, while the former NDA ally JJP and AAP could not open their accounts in the assembly polls. Three independents, including industrialist Savitri Jindal, the chairperson of OP Jindal Group, from the Hisar assembly constituency, also won polls.

The BJP gained eight more seats this time than its previous 2019 elections tally of 40t. Its vote share increased from 36 per cent in 2019 to 39.94 per cent in 2024.

The Congress’s vote share was 39.09 per cent this time.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed BJP’s performance in Haryana polls, describing it as a “victory of politics of development and good governance.”

The BJP’s surprise emphatic victory is largely being attributed to the counter-polarisation of OBCs and some sub-castes of Dalits, which added to its core voter of forward castes, owing to perception of massive Jat mobilisation in favour of Congress which emerged due to its electoral strategy of giving free hand to former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

Hooda won from Garhi Sampla-Kiloi constituency for the third time by over 71,000 votes.

Hooda’s supremacy led to infighting among state senior Congress leaders, including Lok Sabha MP Kumari Seilja and Rajya Sabha MP Randeep Singh Surjewala, who were sidelined in ticket distribution for the assembly polls.

The BJP stuck to its non-Jat politics, first espoused by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the 2014 elections. It continued to fight the assembly elections under the leadership of its CM Nayab Singh Saini, who replaced his predecessor, Manohar Lal Khattar, close to the Lok Sabha polls in March 2024 to beat the anti-incumbency against the state ruling regime.

Saini, who won from the Ladwa constituency and is expected to be sworn in as the CM again, said, “The 2.80 crore people of Haryana have chosen this government and we will move forward under the leadership of PM Modi.”

The election may signal the end of the dominance of Jat politics in the agrarian state.

The electoral outcome may push Congress to avoid projecting a Jat leader as CM and explore the option of politics pursued by its former CM, Bhajan Lal, during the 1990s. At that point, the regional party of the Lok Dal would steer Jat’s electoral interests.

That situation changed in 2005 with the emergence of Jat leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda in the state Congress politics. Hooda became the CM of Haryana for the first time in 2005 and remained till 2014.

Interestingly, the Congress has not swept about 36 Jat-dominated seats spread across regions like Jind, Sonipath, Rohtaq, and Bhiwani.

The BJP won four out of five seats in the Jind Lok Sabha constituency. By fielding OBC candidates, it cornered Jind, Narwana, Safidon, and Uchana Kalan. For instance, BJP’s Krishana Kumar defeated Congress Satbir Dablan by a margin of 11499 votes in Narwana.

Interestingly, eight members from former Deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal’s Jat clan contested from different constituencies, but only two of them won—Arjun Chautala, son of Abhay Singh Chautala, and Aditya Devi Lal, both contesting on the INLD ticket.

Among the prominent faces from the Congress that won the election was wrestler Vinesh Phogat. She defeated the BJP candidate in Julana with a margin of 6015 votes and said, “This is the fight of every girl, every woman who chooses the path to fight. This is the victory of every struggle, of truth. I will maintain the love and trust that this country has given me.”

From Kaithal, Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala’s son Aditya Surjewala defeated the BJP’s sitting MLA Leela Ram by 8,124 votes.

The trend of election results since the morning has been dramatic. Buoyed by exit poll projections, which gave them a clean sweep in Haryana, Congress went into early celebration mode, as it was shown as leading in the first hour of counting, which began at 8 a.m.

Later, the BJP took the lead and maintained its winning mode till the final results.

However, the Congress General Secretary in charge of Communications Jairam Ramesh wrote a letter to the ECI claiming serious issues with the counting process and functioning of EVMs.

Congress reacts

On Tuesday, Congress said the Haryana assembly poll verdict was not acceptable to them as it raised “serious questions” about the counting process and functioning of the EVMs.

“Results in Haryana are totally unexpected and surprising. They go against ground reality and the sentiment of the people which was for change,” Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said at a press conference with Congress’ media and publicity department head Pawan Khera.

Khera disclosed that there were specific complaints about the possible manipulations of the EVMs. He said some of the candidates referred to some EVMs that had 99 per cent battery strength even after many rounds of counting, and the results from all such machines went against the Congress. However, he added, those machines whose battery strength was normal, between 60 and 70 per cent, showed Congress candidates to be winning*.

Khera said several other serious complaints were being collected, and in the coming days, the party will approach the Election Commission of India. “Yeh tantra ki jeet aur loktantra ki haar hai (this is the defeat of democracy by manipulating the system),” he remarked.

Asserting that the results were questionable, Jairam Ramesh said that the Congress had been shown losing even in those seats where there was no scope for its candidates to lose.

Before holding the press conference, Ramesh wrote a letter to the Election Commission of India (ECI) when the counting was on and raised questions about the delays in the announcement of poll results seat-wise on its website.

The ECI responded that “the Commission unequivocally rejects your attempt to surreptitiously give credence to irresponsible, unfounded and uncorroborated malafide narratives.”

Still, the Congress went ahead and said that the Haryana poll results were not acceptable to the party. Ramesh charged that the Haryana result was a victory of manipulations and subverting the will of people. He also alleged that it was a defeat of transparent and democratic processes.

Insisting that he would take up the matter with the ECI soon, Ramesh said there were “serious issues” with the counting process and the functioning of the EVMs in around 14 constituencies.

“Results in Haryana are totally unexpected and surprising. They go against ground reality and the sentiment of the people which was for change,” Ramesh said at a press conference with Congress’ media and publicity department head Pawan Khera.

Related Topics