Modi tsunami helps BJP sweep Haryana elections

The saffron party today created history by winning 47 of the total 90 assembly seats in Haryana requiring no clutches of an alliance from any political party to form the next government.

The party also created a record on the Jat turf by raising its tally from four seats, secured in 2009 elections, to 47-a phenomenal 12 times increase (approx). Its voting share also recorded an exponential jump as it surged to over 33 percent as compared to 9 percent achieved in the last assembly elections.

The party headquarters converted into a celebration ground as party workers and supporters kept pouring in large numbers since early morning as trends clearly showed a BJP landslide.
Enjoying what majority of them called it a pre Diwali party, the BJP leaders congratulated each other on achieving "Congress free" Haryana. All BJP heavyweights emerged victorious except Union Minister Sushma Swaraj's sister Vandana Sharma, who lost to an independent candidate from Safidon constituency.

For BJP, Umesh Aggarwal recorded win with the largest margin-nearly 85,000 votes from Gurgaon followed by Manohar Lal Khattar who crushed his opponent in Karnal by a margin of over 63,000 votes. The party headquarters erupted in joy after its candidate Prem Lata defeated the young MP from INLD and Chautala scion, Dushyant Chautala from Uchana Kalan constituency. Other senior leaders of the party-Captain Abhimanyu from Narnaund; State President Ram Bilas Sharma from Narendergarh; Anil Vij from Ambala Cantt and O P Dhankar defeated their opponents with comfortable margins.

The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), whose leader Om Parkash Chautala was dreaming to be sworn in as the next Chief Minister from Tihar Jail, secured only 19 seats. Much to its chagrin, the Congress was decimated to a distant third as it managed to get only 15 seats. While the voting share of INLD recorded a slight decline from 26 to 24 per cent, the Congress suffered a major setback. For, its voting share dropped from 35 percent (in 2009 elections) to 20 per cent.

It's outgoing Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who submitted his resignation today, won with a comfortable margin from his constituency Garhi Sampla-Kiloi. Former ally of BJP, the Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) which wanted to contest on over 45 seats managed to win only two seats. Thanks to the Bishnoi couple, Kuldeep Bishnoi and his wife who were the only ones to win for their party. Chander Mohan alias Chand Mohammad, brother of Bishnoi of HJC suffered a loss.

Interestingly, the other couple, new found political partner of Bishnois failed to open their tally. Venod Sharma and his wife Shakti Rani Sharma of Jan Chetna party were both defeated by BJP candidates.

The Sunday elections also brought bad news for nearly a dozen political heavyweights who stood defeated (see box). For Congress, India's richest woman, 88-year-old Savitri Jindal and six time MLA from Rewari Captain Ajay Yadav lost elections. Another big setback for Congress was loss of his Rohtak constituency candidate Bharat Bhushan Batra. For, Rohtak is perceived as Hooda's stronghold. Batra has been defeated by a BJP candidate.

For INLD, loss of Dushyant Chautala from Chautala bastion is a major embarrassment for the party. Also, its state President Ashok Arora also stands defeated. On the other hand Gopal Kanda, accused in the Geetika suicide case, lost the Sirsa seat to an arch rival INLD candidate.

In a first, 13 of the 116 women candidates who had contested emerged victorious. On the other hand, number of independent candidates winning the election came down from seven to five, lowest ever record of independents in the last two decades.

Interestingly, the winning margin varied from as low as three votes to as high as 85,000 votes. Jai Tirath of Congress won by only three votes by defeating INLD candidate from Rai constituency.

On the other hand, bigwigs like Manohar Lal Khattar, Anil Vij, Ram Bilas Sharma of BJP and Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Geeta Bhukkal of Congress won by large margins. Their winning margin ranged from 15,000 to 84,000 votes. Venod Sharma of Jan Chetna party and INLD State President Ashok Arora lost by over 20,000 votes.