BJP going solo in Haryana pays off; INLD, Congress decimated

The BJP’s bold decision to go alone in the Haryana assembly elections proved right as it hit the jackpot by relegating the main opposition party – Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) – to a poor second position and decimating the ruling Congress. It is for the first time that the BJP came to power on its own in the state. On earlier occasions, it had been the alliance partner of either the Haryana Vikas Party (HVP) of late Bansi Lal or the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) of the BJP. In registering the emphatic win in Haryana now, the BJP has also broken another myth that a party cannot win the state poll without projecting a chief ministerial candidate. In 2000, when the BJP was the alliance partner of the INLD the two parties came to power routing the Congress. But in 2005 and 2009 the BJP-INLD alliance lost to the Congress twice in a row. In 2005, the BJP won six seats, while in 2009 they were reduced to four seats. From four seats to an emphatic 48 (as of 3:30 pm) is a huge accomplishment for the party in 2014. ‘Big Brother’ INLD has been relegated to the second position now, while huffing and puffing the ruling Congress finds itself in a humiliating third position. As far as the other regional parties are concerned, the Haryana Janhit Congress led by Kuldeep Bishnoi, its alliance partner, the Haryana Jan Chetna Party of Venod Sharma and Gopal Kanda’s Haryana Lokhit Party are concerned, they all have been reduced to fringe players. [caption id=“attachment_1690059” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. AFP[/caption] The assembly elections proved that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s wave had not waned in Haryana at all, despite INLD and Congress’ claims to the contrary. Delighted with the BJP’s victory, Kailash Vijaywargiya, Haryana BJP in-charge, said all credit should go to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for leading the party to an emphastic victory at the national level in the Lok Sabha elections and now in the Haryana and Maharashtra assembly polls. “This is a historical victory for the BJP. We will provide a transparent and a clean government in Haryana and our focus will be on the welfare of the farmers, youth, unemployed, young players and the brave men of the state who join the army in such large numbers,” said Vijaywargiya. The absence of their top two leaders, former Chief Miniser Om Prakash Chautala and his son Ajay Chautala – both serving a 10-year jail term in the JBT teachers scam - hurt the INLD very much. The INLD tried hard to garner sympathy votes with the plea that the Congress had victimized the Chautalas in collusion with the CBI, but failed to gain the people’s confidence. Om Prakash Chautala used the bail he got on health grounds to campaign aggressively in the state for around a week, but this too had limited influence. Chief Ministerial aspirant, Anil Vij, who registered a win against Nirmal Singh of the Congress from Ambala Cantt. constituency by 15,444 votes, said Narendra Modi must be given credit for leading the party to a great victory, the best ever in the state. “If I am given the responsibility of the Chief Minister of the state, I will fulfil it most humbly and dutifully for the welfare of the people,” he said speaking to Firstpost. Vij had defeated Nirmal Singh in the 2009 assembly elections as well. Gyan Chand Gupta, who won the Panchkula assembly seat on the BJP ticket, said all claims of development by the Congress government were bogus. “The fact is that the people had been suffering under the Congress rule for the last ten years and this was the reason why the anti-incumbency factor worked against the ruling party. People had also seen the high-handedness of the INLD and were in no mood to forgive the party and their arrogant leaders. Under the circumstances, the BJP, which has a clean record of governance in the country, was the best choice for the people,” he said. Two of the biggest upsets in the elections were the defeat of the six-time winner, Capt. Ajay Singh Yadav of the Congress from Rewari constituency and INLD MP from Hisar, Dushyant Chautala from Uchana Kala constituency. Capt. Yadav never got along well with Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and just before the poll he had resigned from the state cabinet protesting the continuation of Hooda as the party leader in the present poll. An affable and docile man, Capt. Yadav, however, had withdrawn his resignation a couple of days later. The assembly elections in Haryana have signaled the beginning of the end of the regional parties in the state. The INLD had become the biggest party in the state, relegating a national party of the stature of the BJP to a junior partner. But confident of a grand show after the thundering win at the national level, the BJP took the gamble of going it alone in the present poll, dropping Kuldeep Bishnoi’s HJC on the way and rejecting all pleas of the INLD for a partnership. That confidence has paid off now as the results show despite doomsday predictions by leaders of various parties. “Haryana was under the influence of `Parivarvaad and vanshvaad’ (dynasties) for the past several years, be it that of Bhajan Lal, Bansi Lal,Chautalas and the Hoodas. But in one stroke the BJP has ended years of dynastic rule and ushered in an era of people’s government. Henceforth there will be no dynasty ruling the people of Haryana. The BJP will provide an absolutely clean government where people of all section and region will get equal opportunity to grow,: said Vijaywargiya. Ultimaltely, Modi’s call for a ‘Congress Mukt’ (free) Haryana has proved true. It’s the beginning of a new political era in the state. Birender Singh, prominent Jat leader and arch-rival of Bhupinder Singh Hooda did not contest, but it was a sort of sweet revenge for him when his wife Premlata Singh, humbled INLD’s chief ministerial candidate and MP from Hisar, Dushyant Chautala from the Uchana Kala seat in Jind district. In the 2009 assembly elections Om Prakash Chautala had beaten Birender Singh by just over 600 votes, spoiling his claims for the post of Haryana Chief Minister. According to Khushwant Singh, a prominent Jat leader from Sonepat, the BJP should stay away from casteism and regionalism that the Congress indulged in and eventually paid the price for. “The BJP should select its chief minister very carefully. Development should take place of the entire state and not just in favourite pockets of the Chief Minister. In my eyes Manoharlal Khattar who won the elections by more than 63,000 votes deserves to be the Chief Minister, though Anil Vij too is a good candidate,” he said. Commenting on the Congress party’s rout, outgoing Haryana Chief Minister, Bhupinder Singh Hooda said, “We accept our defeat gracefully and wish the winners well. We hope the new government works sincerely and the development works in the state initiated by us are continued in the same vein.”