Haryana elections: Bhupinder Hooda wins big; Congress faces shock reversal

Haryana Assembly elections: Bhupinder Hooda, the former Congress chief minister and a prominent political leader in Haryana, has won from his stronghold Garhi Sampla-Kiloi by a margin of nearly 71,000 votes, the data on the website of the Election Commission showed on Tuesday.

Election officials began counting votes for the Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections at 8am. After an initial boost to the Congress in the first two hours, the counting trends showed a major reversal with the BJP leading at least 49 seats till noon. As of 4:30 pm, the BJP has won 27 seats and is leading on another 23 seats. Meanwhile, the Congress, which was initially comfortably ahead on 50 seats, is facing a likely defeat. The party has won 22 seats and is leading at 13.

The saffron party is eyeing a hattrick in the state.

Data on the Election Commission’s website showed Congress has won seats, including Ambala City, Kaithal, Baroda, Julana, Ratia, Sirsa, Ellenabad among others. Meanwhile, BJP has won Israna, Sonipat, Gohana, Dadri,Tosham, among others.

If Congress wins, Hooda may emerge as the chief ministerial candidate in Haryana. Notably, senior Congress leaders Kumari Selja and Randeep Surjewala have also expressed interest in the role. However, Hooda remarked that the contest is a positive sign: “It is a good thing. If you do not have ambition in politics, then your politics will become stagnant. More claimants mean more strength for us (Congress),” he said earlier.

Ladwa is the constituency of BJP Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, who hopes to return as the head of government. He dismissed exit poll predictions on Saturday, asserting that BJP would win a third term. Saini won by a margin of over 16,000 votes.