The BJP’s strong performance in Haryana allowed it to overcome voter dissatisfaction and secure a third consecutive term in government. The party secured victory in 48 out of the 90 Assembly seats. A party or alliance needs 46 seats to form a government in the state.
The Haryana Assembly election was expected to be dominated by the Congress party. The same predictions were also made by the exit polls. The conversation revolved around the margin by which it will win.
But the BJP did the impossible. The Saffron Party not only increased its seat tally from 40 to 48 but also saw its vote share rise from 36% in 2019 to nearly 40% in 2024.
The ‘JAT’ factor helped BJP
The main reason the BJP was successful was due to the perception that the Jat community was aligning with the Congress. “If there was a polarisation of Jat votes for the Congress, there was a counter-polarisation for the BJP,” Rahul Verma, fellow at the Centre for Policy Research, told India Today TV.
Focusing too much on Jats backfired as it led to non-Jat voters rallying together against them.
“This spooked the non-Jat voters, who were forced into a huddle. They consolidated fearing the return of one-caste dominance in politics,” satirist Kamlesh Singh told India Today Digital.
Currently, it appears that this is the area where the BJP has seen an increase in support by absorbing its previous partner, the Jannayak Janta Party led by Dushyant Chautala.
Also read: Haryana Polls: Gurnam Charuni, who led farmers’ protests, suffers embarrassing loss
Independents proved to be vote-cutters
In 14 constituencies, the BJP won against the Congress by a margin smaller than the votes received by the candidate in third place. The seats included Sohna, Narwana, Uchana Kalan, Assandh, Kalka, Badhra, Mahendragarh, Safidon, Yamunanagar, Rai, Barwala, Samalkha, Dadri, and Tosham. Independents came in second place in 10 of these districts.
The BJP won Sohna from Congress by a margin of 11,877 votes, with independent candidate Javed Ahmed receiving 49,210 votes. In Uchana Kalan, the BJP won over the Congress with just a 32-vote margin. In the meantime, Virender Ghogharian, running as an independent candidate, received 31,456 votes.
Nayab Singh Saini’s strong leadership
The person who is currently receiving all the attention is Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini. Reports indicate that the BJP is expected to reelect him for another term, as he won his Ladwa seat by over 16,000 votes.
In a bid to combat the growing discontent towards Khattar after nearly a decade in office, the BJP switched him out for Saini in March, right before the Lok Sabha elections.
Saini started working diligently. His successful decision was to agree to the proposal of purchasing an additional 10 crops at the minimum support price, resulting in Haryana becoming the sole state to procure 24 crops at MSP.
