BJP tally down to five as Congress scripts comeback story in Haryana
The BJP which had won all the 10 Lok Sabha seats in 2019, nine of them with substantial margins running into lakhs, could only retain Kurukshetra, Karnal, Gurugram, Faridabad and Bhiwani-Mahendergarh this election.
Some resounding wins, a few close shaves; and see-saw battles. This was the story in Haryana where the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its principal rival, the Congress on Tuesday shared the spoils, bagging five Lok Sabha seats each in Haryana as the election results indicated a revival for the faction-ridden Congress in the state.
The BJP which had won all the 10 Lok Sabha seats in 2019, nine of them with substantial margins running into lakhs, could only retain Kurukshetra, Karnal, Gurugram, Faridabad and Bhiwani-Mahendergarh this election.
Riding a strong anti-incumbency sentiment in the state, the Congress wrested five seats - Ambala, Sonepat, Rohtak, Sirsa and Hisar, two of them with huge margins.
‘Congress now has the momentum’
The poll outcome in the state would have a direct implication on the upcoming assembly polls in October. The vote percentage of the Congress climbed to 43.68 % this election from 28.51% in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls whereas the vote share of the BJP fell from 58.21% in 2019 to 46.10 % this time. Prof Ashutosh Kumar, a political scientist at Panjab University, Chandigarh, said that results clearly showed anti-incumbency for the ML Khattar-led BJP government of over nine years. “BJP’s gambit to replace Khattar with Nayab Saini just before the Lok Sabha poll announcement did not pay off. Ideally, the change of face should have been done much earlier. The Congress now has momentum. Since assembly elections will be fought on local issues, the Congress is in the best position to dominate,” Prof Kumar said.
Chautalas wiped out as peasantry consolidate behind Congress
A big takeaway of the 2024 election is the decimation of Chautalas in the state and the consolidation of peasantry, including the Jats, behind the Congress. This could also signal an era of bipolar politics in the state. While Dushyant Chautala’s Jannayak Janta Party (JJP), which was a part of the four and half years of ruling alliance with the BJP till March this year, could not get even 1% of vote share this election, its parent organisation, the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) of former chief minister, Om Prakash Chautala got 1.74 % vote share. Many of the JJP candidates, including Dushyant’s mother Naina Chautala (Hisar), forfeited their deposits and finished fifth. The best performance by INLD came from Sirsa where party nominee Sandeep Valmiki finished third with about 92,000 votes. INLD candidate from Kurukshetra, Abhay Chautala finished third with about 78,000 votes. “The dominant Jat community this time firmly stood behind the Congress to dent the BJP. Farmers’ anger and the sarcasm heaped on the peasantry during the agitation against farm laws, the sexual harassment of women wrestlers from Haryana played a role in this consolidation,’’ Prof Ashutosh Kumar said.
Thumping wins and close contests
The BJP registered thumping wins in Faridabad and Karnal where Union minister Krishan Pal Gurjar and former chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar won by a margin of over 1.72 lakh and 2.20 lakh votes, respectively.
The Congress scored emphatic wins in Rohtak and Sirsa where Deepender Hooda, son of former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, and Kumari Selja, a former Union minister, romped home with victory margins of over 3.42 lakh and 2.68 lakh, respectively.
A tantalising close contest was witnessed for the Sonepat seat where Congress candidate Satpal Brahmchari and his BJP rival Mohan Lal Badoli were locked in a see-saw battle. Brahmchari eventually won by over 21,000 votes.
Gurgaon probably saw a promising performance from Congress candidate and Bollywood actor, Raj Babbar, a rank outsider, who polled over 7.33 lakh votes to lose the election to Union minister Rao Inderjit Singh by a margin of over 75,000 votes.
Kurukshetra also saw fluctuation in fortunes throughout the counting with BJP candidate, Naveen Jindal finally winning the contest by a rather narrow margin of about 29,000 votes defeating Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate Sushil Gupta. The AAP which contested Kurukshetra as an INDIA bloc constituent got 3.94% votes, a part of which also be claimed by the Congress.
The Congress won the Hisar seat by over 63,000 votes with party candidate Jai Prakash, who trailed in initial rounds, overcoming the challenge from Ranjit Singh of the BJP.
Ambala and Bhiwani-Mahendergarh seats saw close contests with both Congress and BJP candidates, Varun Chaudhary and Dharambir Singh, registering wins by margins of about 49,000 and 40,000 votes, respectively.