BJP to form government in Haryana; Congress humbled

The BJP is all set to form the government in Haryana - for the first time on its own.
Outgoing Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Hooda accepted defeat as the BJP contested the assembly elections on its own in the state, upset past trends, and will now lead a majority government.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had won 13 out of the 28  assembly seats results for which were declared till 1 p.m. and was leading in 38 other constituencies. Most of its candidates had taken unassailable lead over their nearest rivals in their constituencies.

The party needs to win 46 seats to secure a simple majority in the 90-member assembly.
Kailash Vijayvargiya, in charge of the BJP's party affairs in Haryana: "People of Haryana wanted a change. Our party cadres and leaders worked very hard. The credit for our success has to go to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah."

On the question of the BJP having too many candidates aspiring to  be the next chief minister in Haryana, Vijayvargiya said: "The party will collectively decide the next chief minister. He will be someone who will be acceptable to all sections in Haryana."

As the results poured in, Hooda accepted defeat of the Congress party in the elections.
"This is the Janadesh (public mandate). I accept this and wish well for the incoming government," Hooda said.

"I hope that the new government will not let the pace of development in Haryana to slow down," said Hooda, who has been chief minister from March 2005.

The Congress won only five seats and was leading on nine others till 1 p.m.
The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) was heading for the second position in the results. The party won seven seats and was leading on 10 others.

The BJP started on a winning note Sunday with the first result being declared in Haryana going to its kitty. Veteran BJP leader Anil Vij won from the Ambala Cantt seat by a convincing margin of 15,462 votes.

The BJP win in Haryana is a big achievement given the fact that it had won only four assembly seats in the 2009 assembly polls. Its highest ever tally of Haryana assembly seats was 16.

Counting of votes cast in the Oct 15 elections for the 90 assembly seats in Haryana began Sunday morning to decide the fate of 1,351 candidates, including 116 women.
A record 76.54 percent of Haryana's 1.63 crore electorate voted in  the assembly polls this time.