Obliterating exit poll predictions, the Bharatiya Janata Party staged a historic hat-trick in Haryana while it bagged the majority of assembly seats in Jammu though the National Conference-Congress combine looked set to take power in J&K as results for assembly elections emerged on Tuesday.
These were the first assembly polls since the April-June Lok Sabha elections, which returned the BJP to power with a reduced majority. Both Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir have 90 assembly seats and a party or coalition that crosses the halfway mark can form the government.
By late evening, the BJP had bagged 48 seats in Haryana, with the Congress managing 37, while the Indian National Lok Dal netted two and three seats went to independent candidates.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi termed the BJP’s Haryana performance the victory of “development politics and good governance".
“Heartfelt gratitude from Haryana! I salute the people of Haryana for giving a clear majority to the Bharatiya Janata Party once again. This is the victory of the politics of development and good governance. I assure the people here that we will leave no stone unturned to fulfil their aspirations," PM Modi wrote on social media site X.
Union home minister Amit Shah took a veiled dig at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, saying that the state had taught him a lesson.
“Haryana, the land of farmers and soldiers, has taught a lesson to those who go abroad and insult the country for their vote bank. I express my heartfelt gratitude to the people of Haryana for giving BJP the opportunity to serve the state for the third consecutive time," he said.
After winning the Ladwa seat by 16,054 votes, Haryana chief minister Nayab Singh Saini — who took over the post only on March 12 this year from Manohar Lal Khattar with the BJP trying to tide over the anti-incumbency sentiments — credited the party’s success to PM Modi’s policies. “First of all, I would like to thank the people of Haryana for believing in PM Modi and the policies of the BJP. This is the victory of farmers, poor, women and youth of Haryana," he said.
The Haryana win would be a big boost for the BJP ahead of other crucial state elections in the coming months, particularly in Maharashtra where it is leading the ruling alliance and pollsters have predicted a strong likelihood of a change in government.
The Congress, which was confident of a resounding victory in Haryana — an outcome also envisioned by most exit polls based on the BJP seemingly battling anti-incumbency sentiments and anger among farmers, the youth, and the wrestling community — failed to do well in Jammu and Kashmir as well with ally NC doing all the heavy lifting. Congress leaders said they would not accept the Haryana result as it was “totally unexpected, completely surprising and counter-intuitive".
“The result in Haryana … goes against ground reality," Congress media department head Jairam Ramesh told reporters. “It is a victory for manipulation, victory for subverting the will of the people and a defeat for transparent democratic processes."
In Jammu and Kashmir, which is electing its government after a decade, while the National Conference closed in on 42 seats, ally Congress only had six. With a rich haul in the Jammu region, the BJP’s tally touched 29 and independent candidates picked up 7. Mehbooba Mufti’s Peoples Democratic Party found little support from voters, managing to stay ahead of the competition in only 3 seats.
These were also the first assembly elections to be held in Jammu and Kashmir since 2019 when the BJP-led Centre revoked the then state’s special status under Article 370 of the Constitution and reorganised it into two union territories of J&K and Ladakh.
National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah reiterated his appeal for the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir, reminding Prime Minister Narendra Modi of his public commitment.
“I would like to believe the Honourable PM has said publicly that we will restore statehood. He hasn’t said we will only restore if the BJP is elected to power," Abdullah said while speaking to the media.
Abdullah seems set to become the next chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, marking the end of over five years without a government since the region’s statehood was revoked.
(With agency inputs)
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