How BJP swept 10 out of 14 seats in south Haryana, stunned Congress

Political watchers, however, said that the opposition could not capitalise on the anti-government sentiment as people were not impressed by statements by Congress leaders on government formation, recruitments, and sidelining of Kumari Shelja, who is a senior Dalit leader

The Bharatiya Janata Party’s victory in the 2024 Haryana Assembly elections was largely fuelled by strong support from the people of south Haryana, where the party secured 10 out of 14 seats. The BJP performed well in the districts of Gurugram, Rewari, and Mahendragarh, despite a significant anti-incumbency wave created by the Congress.

BJP’s Laxman Singh Yadav, the winning candidate from Rewari with his supporters after the assembly election results were declared in Gurugram on Tuesday. (HT PHOTO)

Political watchers, however, said that the opposition could not capitalise on the anti-government sentiment as people were not impressed by statements made by Congress leaders on government formation and recruitments, and were upset by the sidelining of senior Dalit leader Kumari Shelja.

Anil Arya, a Gurugram-based political analyst and media advisor, said that polarisation of voters took place on a caste basis. “The Congress leadership could not convince people of Haryana that it could provide a better alternative to BJP and was not able to capitalise on anti-incumbency,” he added.

In the Gurugram district, BJP candidates won four seats. In Mahendragarh district, the party won three out of four constituencies, while in Rewari, it captured all three seats. However, the party lost all three seats in Nuh to Congress picks.

“I am thankful to the people of south Haryana for reiterating their faith in BJP candidates. The candidates were chosen after careful consideration and discussion on several seats in this area, and this ensured that the BJP flag is flying high in all the seats of south Haryana,” he added.

BJP’s performance in this region during the 2019 polls was not as good — winning three out of four seats in Mahendergarh, two out of three constituencies in Rewari, three out of four seats in Gurugram district, and losing all three seats in Nuh.

Notable victories include Laxman Yadav of BJP, who won the Rewari seat after defeating sitting Congress MLA Chiranjeevi Rao by 28,769 votes. Meanwhile, Arti Rao, daughter of Rao Inderjit Singh, won in Ateli by 3,085 votes against Attar Lal of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). Similarly, in the Pataudi assembly seat, Bimla Chaudhary of the BJP won against Pearl Chaudhary of Congress by 46,530 votes, while in Sohna, Tejpal Tanwar of BJP defeated Congress’s Rohtash Khatana by 11,877 votes.

In Gurgaon, BJP’s Mukesh Sharma defeated Naveen Goyal, who was a defector from BJP and contested as an independent candidate after being denied a ticket. Sharma defeated Goyal by 68,045 votes. In Badshahpur, BJP candidate Rao Narbir Singh defeated Vardhan Yadav of Congress by 60,705 votes.

Political analysts indicated that many candidates were strong supporters of Rao Inderjit Singh, securing the party’s mandate through his influence. “Most of these candidates were supported by Gurugram MP Rao Inderjit Singh, who has a strong hold on the Ahirwal region. However, it must be noted that BJP has won similarly in several districts across the state,” said a BJP leader, on condition of anonymity.

Other significant wins included Om Prakash Yadav in Narnaul against Rao Narender Singh by 17,171 votes and Dr Krishna Kumar, who dominated the polls against Dr ML Ranga by 20,011 votes in Bawal. Anil Yadav won the Kosli seat, largely supported by Ahir voters, across the Ahirwal region, spanning from Dundahera to Nangal Choudhary. Yadav, who won against Jagdish Yadav, did so by 17,209 votes.

The BJP also dominated the vote share in Faridabad and Palwal districts, with candidates Dhanesh Adlakha, Vipul Goel, and Harinder Singh winning the Badkhal, Faridabad, and Faridabad NIT seats, respectively.

Kamal Yadav, president of BJP Gurugram, said that the people of south Haryana have seen the discrimination and lack of development under Congress governments from 2005 to 2014, and they were aware that bringing Congress to power would ensure that there would be no more development.

“The work done by former CM Manohar Lal Khattar, who built infrastructure in south Haryana and also ensured merit-based recruitment and an end to discrimination, ensured BJP won in this region,” he said.

A senior Congress leader from Gururgam district said that there was an urgent need to reorganise the party at the local level.

“Haryana Congress organisation barely exist at booth level so the party does not have designated workers at booth, block and district levels. It is because of this reason that candidates often have to rely on their personal networking with party workers. In contrast, BJP had a more efficient hierarchal communication enabling them with better mobilisation in the Haryana polls,” he said.

However, senior Congress leader Sukhbir Kataria, said that Ahirwal voted in favour of BJP due to Rao Inderjit Singh’s influence and legacy in the region. Kataria added that Singh’s call that a strong performance by BJP could catapult him to CM’s position in Haryana likely strung the hearts of their vote banks. “People in south Haryana want a CM form this region and so they voted on the basis of this emotional call. Another reason was that Congress fielded too many fresh faces in this election which might help us in future but led to a debacle this time around,” he added.

It was only in Nuh district, which is dominated by the Muslim community, that the party lost all three seats in Nuh, Punhana, and Firozpur Jhirka. Even during the 2024 general elections, the party had very few votes in all three seats. Arya attributed Congress’ win in Nuh to BJP’s response during the communal violence that took place in the region in July 2023.