'BJP Ready To Serve Haryana For Third Time': CM Saini After Jolt To Congress In State

As the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) crossed the majority mark in the Haryana assembly election and was leading on more than 50 seats, Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, who is contesting from Ladwa in Kurukshetra, on Tuesday said his party was ready to serve the state for the third consecutive time.

Talking to reporters, Saini said, “On the basis of my service to the state of Haryana, I can today confidently say that we are going to form a government in the state.”

“Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister of the nation for the third time and we have led Haryana to the path of development in the past 10 years, under the Prime Minister’s leadership, and we will continue to serve the state with complete honesty,” Saini said.

According to the latest trends available on the Election Commission website, the Congress was ahead on 35 seats in the state.

Among prominent candidates, Saini, Congress leaders Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Vinesh Phogat, Udai Bhan, and Independent candidate Savitri Jindal, were ahead in their respective seats.

However, senior BJP leader Anil Vij, Indian National Lok Dal (INLD)’s Abhay Singh Chautala and Jannayak Janta Party (JJP)’s Dushyant Chautala were trailing.

The counting of votes began at 8 am amid tight security.

THE TRENDS IN HARYANA

According to the Election Commission’s trends available around 12.30 pm, the BJP was leading on 49 seats and the Congress on 35. Independents were leading on four seats while the INLD and BSP were ahead on one seat each. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) was yet to get off the mark.

Chief Minister Saini was leading by a margin of 9,632 votes over his Congress rival and sitting MLA Mewa Singh.

Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who is seeking re-election from Garhi Sampla-Kiloi, was leading by a healthy margin of 41,077 votes over the BJP’s Manju Hooda.

Congress’ Vinesh Phogat, an Olympic wrestler, was ahead of her BJP rival Yogesh Kumar in the Julana seat in Jind district by 4,130 votes.

In the outgoing assembly, the BJP has 41 MLAs (including the Adampur seat won in 2022 bypoll), the Congress has 28 MLAs, the JJP (6), while the Haryana Lokhit Party and Indian National Lok Dal have one member each. There are four Independents, while nine seats are vacant.

WHAT EXIT POLLS PREDICTED

Several exit polls had predicted a Congress victory in Haryana which recorded a voter turnout of 67.90 per cent. However, the BJP has claimed it will return to power for a third consecutive term.

The key parties and alliances in the fray are the BJP, the Congress, the AAP, INLD-BSP and JJP-Azad Samaj Party. However, most seats will see a direct fight between the BJP and the Congress.

A total of 1,031 candidates, including 464 Independents and 101 women, are in the fray on Haryana’s 90 constituencies which voted in a single phase on October 5.

The BJP had formed the government in 2019 with the help of the JJP.