The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress are set to win five Lok Sabha seats each in Haryana, with prominent leaders such as former Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, senior Congress leaders Kumari Selja and Deepender Singh Hooda winning big.
It was a day of nail-biting suspense, with both the BJP and the Congress putting up an impressive show of strength. Although the BJP was confident of retaining its bastion in all the 10 constituencies, the INDIA bloc allies – Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party did not lag far behind in their expectations and fought the polls with an equal measure of confidence and zest.
The counting of votes was continued when this story was being filed. Former Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar won from Karnal, defeating his nearest rival Congress candidate Divyanshu Budhiraja by a margin of 2,32,577 votes. Khattar polled 7,39,285 votes, while Budhiraja got 5,06,708 votes.
Congress, till now, has won the Sirsa (SC) seat with party candidate Selja Kumari securing 268497 votes. Congress candidate Jai Parkash won in Hisar by a margin of 63,381 votes, defeating BJP's Ranjit Singh who secured 5,07,043 votes.
In Sonepat, initially there was a close fight between the Congress' Satpal Brahmachari and the BJP's sitting MLA Mohan Lal Badoli. Finally, Brahamchari won by a margin of 21,816 votes, securing 5,48,682 votes. Mohan Lal Badoli of BJP became the runner-up securing 5,26,866 votes.
Union minister Krishan Pal Gurjar, who is the sitting MP from Faridabad, won by defeating rival Congress candidate Mahender Pratap Singh.
According to Election Commission trends, BJP candidates were leading in the Gurugram, Bhiwani-Mahendragarh and Kurukshetra seats, while Congress was ahead in Ambala, Hisar, Rohtak and Sonepat.
Union minister and sitting MP from Gurgaon Rao Inderjit Singh was leading over the Congress' Raj Babbar by a margin of 46,197 votes. In Rohtak, senior Congress leader Deepender Singh Hooda has also earned an unassailable lead over sitting BJP MP Arvind Sharma by 2,52,994 votes. In the Ambala constituency, the Congress' Varun Chaudhary was leading over his BJP rival Banto Kataria by 33,310 votes. Congress candidate Jai Prakash was ahead of the BJP's Ranjit Chautala in Hisar by a margin of 25,910 votes. In the Bhiwani-Mahendragarh seat, sitting BJP MP Dharambir Singh was leading over Congress MLA Rao Dan Singh by a narrow margin of 40,422 votes.
From Kurukshetra, BJP candidate Naveen Jindal, who had been trailing for quite some time, was now ahead of his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) rival Sushil Gupta by a margin of 14,328 votes.
Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) leader Abhay Singh Chautala was also in the fray from Kurukshetra but was trailing. His party candidates in six other constituencies were behind as well.
Talking to reporters, former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said, "There is a wave of support in favour of Congress in Haryana...The public has indicated that they want the Congress government in Haryana."
CM Nayab Saini wins Karnal Assembly bypoll
In the Karnal Assembly constituency, where a bypoll was held, Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini won with a margin of 41,483 votes after defeating Congress nominee Tarlochan Singh. He polled 94,714 votes, while his nearest rival Congress candidate Tarlochan Singh polled 53,231 votes. Saini polled 54,495 votes, while Tarlochan Singh got 27,088 votes after nine rounds. A 57.9% voter turnout was registered on May 25 for the Karnal assembly seat that fell vacant after the resignation of former chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar.
Chautala Clan Faces Defeat in Haryana
In a setback for Haryana's Chautala family, several members, including Ranjit, Naina, Sunaina, and Abhay Singh Chautala, are set to face defeat. In a setback to the influential Chautala family of Haryana, several of its members who had entered the poll fray are set to face defeats. Ranjit Chautala, Naina Chautala, Sunaina Chautala and Abhay Singh Chautala had contested the polls.
From Kurukshetra, BJP’s Naveen Jindal was leading with a comfortable margin against AAP’s Sushil Gupta while INLD’s Abhay Chautala was trailing a distant third. Abhay Chautala is also the lone MLA of his party Indian National Lok Dal, which is headed by former chief minister Om Prakash Chautala.
Similarly, Ajay Singh Chautala and Dushyant Chautala had fielded their candidates on all 10 LS seats, but they too are set to receive a drubbing going by the latest trends of the Election Commission.
Ajay Chautala and Dushyant Chautala formed the Jannayak Janta Party in December 2018 after a split in the INLD earlier that year following a feud in the Chautala family.
Haryana’s Power Minister Ranjit Singh Chautala, an Independent MLA, quit his assembly membership to join the BJP ahead of the LS polls.
With the entry of Ranjit Chautala, son of former Deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal, the stage was set for a riveting electoral battle where two other members of the Chautala family, split along political lines, had also locked horns.
JJP MLA Naina Chautala, INLD candidate Sunaina Chautala—the two ‘bahus’ or daughters-in-law of the Chautala clan—and BJP’s Ranjit Chautala were pitted against each other.
