Khattar, Hooda in Delhi to strategise on govt formation, meet top leaders of their parties

A day after results threw up a hung assembly in Haryana, the scene of action shifted to Delhi on Friday with Haryana Chief Minister M L Khattar and his Congress rival Bhupinder Singh Hooda in the city to strategise on formation of government.

Both the BJP and the Congress are making hectic efforts to woo the Independents -- some are already in the national capital -- and the smaller parties in a bid to shore up their numbers, sources in the parties said.

In an important development, Haryana Lokhit Party leader Gopal Kanda, who has won the Sirsa seat, Friday claimed he and other Independents have "decided to extend unconditional support to the BJP".

"My family is connected with RSS since 1926. My father was connected with the BJP," said Kanda.

The ruling BJP emerged the largest party with 40 seats, six short of the halfway mark needed to form the next government, while the Congress bagged 31 seats. With no real clear winner, the seven Independents and the Jannayak Janta Party with 10 seats hold the key to power in the state.

The Indian National Lok Dal and Haryana Lokhit Party bagged one seat each.

Khattar, who reached here Friday morning, is meeting the Independents in Haryana Bhavan and will also meet top BJP leaders over formation of government, sources said.

Hooda, a former chief minister of the state, has also made fervent appeals to independents to come together against the BJP. He will meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi and senior leader Ghulam Nabi Azad