THE BJP on Tuesday clinched a stunning hat-trick win in Haryana overcoming anti-incumbency and dashing Congress’ hopes of a comeback while the National Conference-Congress combine pulled off a spectacular victory in maiden elections in Jammu and Kashmir after abrogation of Article 370 in 2019. The BJP’s decisive victory in the Haryana Assembly elections for which Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini gave credit to Prime Minister Narendra Modi came as a big boost for the BJP ahead of the crucial polls in Maharashtra, where along with its two allies it is bracing for a tough battle, and also in Jharkhand and Delhi. The BJP as well as the NC-Congress alliance got a comfortable majority in Haryana and J and K respectively where the Assemblies had an identical strength of 90. While Saini, the 54-year-old OBC leader who was made CM just six months ago to replace Manohar Lal Khattar in an unexpected appointment, is likely to retain his post, NC President Farooq Abdullah announced that his son and party leader Omar Abdullah will be the Chief Minister, a post he had held between 2009 and 2014. In a series of posts, Prime Minister Modi hailed BJP’s performance in Haryana as a ‘grand victory’, saying politics of development and good governance has won. He also complimented the NC for its ‘commendable’ showing in J and K, and said he was proud of BJP’s showing in the Union Territory.

 

As the poll results bucked exit poll projections for both Haryana and J and K, the first major direct contest between the BJP and the Congress after the Lok Sabha verdict in June saw the ruling party emerge triumphant with its largest tally of 48 seats, up from 41 in 2019. The BJP also overcame the setback in the Lok Sabha polls when its tally dropped from 10 in 2019 to five seats. As the vote count in Haryana witnessed some close contests, the faction-ridden Congress, which was hoping to consolidate its gains from the Lok Sabha verdict by targeting the incumbent government on farmers’ plight and Agnipath recruitment scheme for non-commissioned posts in the Armed Forces, notched 36 seats, five more than it got last time. It was also leading in one. Significantly, the vote share of the BJP and Congress was almost same--39.94 per cent and 39.04 per cent respectively. While the Congress increased its vote share by a massive 11 per cent, the BJP’s vote share rose by three per cent. The Congress loss in Haryana triggered a blame game with senior party leader Kumari Selja saying the party high command should assess all reasons that led to the disappointing result and identify the people responsible.

 

The alliance of the NC and Congress, who are constituents of the opposition grouping INDIA bloc and are set to form the Government in J and K, won 48 of the 90 seats at stake. The NC, which scored big in the elections being held for the first time since 2019 when J an K was also bifurcated into union territories, bagged 42 of the 51 seats it contested while its ‘junior partner’ Congress got six of the 32 it fought. The BJP with 29 seats emerged as the second largest party improving its all-time high tally of 25 in 2014 elections. It had fielded 62 candidates with a major focus on its strong bastion of Jammu region. But J and K BJP chief Ravinder Raina, known as the party’s ‘poster boy’ in the region, failed to retain his Nowshera assembly seat. Independents bagged seven seats and the PDP got three. Among those who lost was PDP’s Iltija Mufti, daughter of party president Mehbooba Mufti. The Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) made its debut to the Assembly. Its supremo Arvind Kejriwal congratulated the party for opening its account in a fifth state.