New Delhi:

The business of winning a historic third consecutive election completed, the Bharatiya Janata Party has now switched focus to forming the new Haryana government, specifically the constitution of a cabinet with a nod to caste equations in the heartland state. 

The party’s 48 newly elected lawmakers are expected to meet later today, but it is the central leadership, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on which all eyes rest.

There can be a maximum of 14 ministers in the Haryana government including Chief Minister-elect Nayab Singh Saini, who met Mr Modi at his residence in Delhi Wednesday. 

Sources told NDTV the BJP has already sanctioned a second (and first full) term for Mr Saini.

READ | BJP To Stay With Nayab Saini As Haryana Chief Minister: Sources

So that leaves 13 open positions, of which the BJP will have to look for 11 new faces because only Mahipal Dhanda and Mool Chand Sharma, have retained their seats.

Balancing caste equations and communities’ demands while forming a government is not an easy task, but it is one the BJP has done successfully in the recent past; in December last year, after winning the Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh elections, the party took its time to announce chief ministers and cabinets, consulting MLAs and state leaders.

NDTV Explains | BJP’s 2024 Gameplan Behind Hattrick Of Heartland Surprises

Similar measures will likely be necessary in Haryana, where the BJP now has nine MLAs from the Dalit community, eight with Punjabi origins, seven Brahmins, and six each from the Jats and the Yadavs. The party now also has Gurjars, Rajputs, Vaishyas, and an OBC leader.

The BJP has nine Dalit MLAs in this government, two of whom are at the forefront. One is six-time MLA Krishna Lal Panwar and the other is two-time MLA Krishna Bedi.

Among the eight with Punjabi origins is seven-time MLA and ex-Home Minister Anil Vij, who sulked in March after he was not made Chief Minister; this was after then Chief-Minister Manohar Lal Khattar stepped down following his nomination to a Lok Sabha seat.

Last month Mr Vij, who won his Ambala Cantonment seat, threw his hat into that ring for a third time but was again passed over, and that might create a bit of a problem for the party.

READ | BJP’s Anil Vij Says Will Stake Claim For Haryana Chief Minister Post

Then there is Jind MLA Krishnan Middha, who won his seat for a third straight time.

Another now three-time MLA is Ghanshyam Das Arora from Yamunanagar, but his appointment may be skipped since his seat lies within the Ambala region.

Mr Arora may be passed over for Vinod Bhayana, the three-time MLA from Hansi.

Then there are the Brahmins. 

Among them is three-time MLA from Ballabgarh Mool Chand Sharma, who will likely be retained in the Cabinet. Another possible is two-time Lok Sabha MP Arvind Sharma who won Gohana, and Ram Gautam, who delivered Safidon, which the BJP had never won.

The key for the BJP are six MLAs from the Ahirwal belt that voted, once again, overwhelmingly for the party. That support was crucial this time to defeat the Congress.

Among them is six-time MLA Rao Narbir Singh from Badhsahpur; he was not in the first Saini government but was in that headed by Mr Khattar after the 2014 election win.

Aarti Rao, the daughter of veteran junior Union Minister Rao Indrajit, won the Ateli seat for the first time, but her name is nevertheless on a shortlist, as is two-time MLA Laxman Yadav.

And then there are the Jats, one of the largest of Haryana’s sub-populations.

Jat leader Mahipal Dhanda is now a two-time MLA from Panipat (Rural) and is likely to be retained. Krishna Gehlawat, elected for the second time from Rai, is also in this race. A possible big new name is Shruti Chaudhary, the daughter of the party’s Rajya Sabha MP Kiran Chaudhary.

Other possibles include ex-minister Vipul Goyal from the Vaishya community.

READ | India’s Richest Woman Savitri Jindal, 2 Independents Back Haryana BJP

But perhaps the biggest name here is Savitri Jindal, India’s richest woman and an independent MLA from Hisar, who formally offered her support to the BJP last night.

The Rajput community may get Shyam Singh Rana and three-time MLA Harvinder Kalyan may be the Road community rep. Ranbir Gangwa could represent the OBC community; he was the Deputy Speaker in the previous government. Rajesh Nagar, a two-time MLA from Tigaon could be the Gurjar pick.

Chandigarh:

Haryana Jan Sevak Party nominee from the Meham assembly constituency Balraj Kundu on Saturday alleged that former Congress MLA Anand Singh Dangi assaulted him and his personal assistant at a polling booth in Rohtak district.

In a video message, Mr Kundu said he was visiting polling booth number 134 in the constituency when it happened.

He alleged that Mr Dangi ripped his clothes and also had him “manhandled”. “My PA was beaten up,” Mr Kundu said.

The outgoing MLA from the Meham assembly seat also claimed that Anand Singh Dangi sensed the impending defeat of his son and Congress candidate Balram Dangi and this has left him “rattled”.

Mr Kundu also urged voters to stay calm and maintain peace.

The Jan Sevak Party candidate is pitted against Balram Dangi and the BJP’s Deepak Hooda from the Meham constituency.

Polling began Saturday morning for all the 90 Assembly seats in Haryana, amid tight security arrangements.

The fate of Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, the Congress’ Bhupinder Singh Hooda, and Vinesh Phogat, besides the JJP’s Dushyant Chautala and 1,027 other candidates will be decided in the polls in which over 2 crore people are eligible to vote.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Jhajjar (Haryana):

Double Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker today cast her vote at a polling station in Charkhi Dadri for the 2024 Haryana assembly elections. After casting her vote along with her father, Ram Kishan Bhaker, she said that it’s the individual’s responsibility to vote in the elections.

“Being the youth of this country, it is our responsibility to cast our vote for the most favourable candidate. Small steps lead to big goals… I voted for the first time…” Ms Bhaker said while speaking to the news agency ANI.

#WATCH | Olympic medalist Manu Bhaker casts her vote at a polling station in Jhajjar for the #HaryanaElection2024pic.twitter.com/jPXiQ2zwJf

— ANI (@ANI) October 5, 2024

Her father, Ram Kishan Bhaker, also expressed his feelings after casting his vote.

“Manu is the brand ambassador and a youth icon for voting. She had to come. We vote in every election. How will our village develop if we do not vote… I would request everyone to come out and vote. It’s better to come out today than to curse the government for the next five years…” he said.

The Haryana assembly election is a high-stakes battle as the BJP is eyeing a third straight term to power in the state, the Congress party is aiming to wrest back power riding on anti-incumbency, and issues of farmer protests and wrestler protests.

The key contesting parties in Haryana include the BJP, Congress, and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), as well as the pre-poll alliance between the Indian National Lok Dal-Bahujan Samaj Party (INLD-BSP) and the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP)-Azad Samaj Party (ASP).

Voting in Haryana will be held from 7 am to 6 pm. A total of 1,031 candidates are contesting in all 90 assembly constituencies, and 20,632 polling booths have been set up for voting. The results for the Haryana Assembly elections will be declared along with those of Jammu and Kashmir on October 8.

According to Haryana’s Chief Electoral Officer, Pankaj Agarwal, 2,03,54,350 voters, including 1,07,75,957 males, 95,77,926 females, and 467 third-gender voters, will cast their votes in the Assembly Elections on October 5. A total of 1,031 candidates are contesting across 90 constituencies, and 20,632 polling booths have been set up for the election.

The Chief Electoral Officer highlighted that a total of 29,462 police personnel, 21,196 home guards, and 10,403 Special Police Officers (SPO) have been deployed across the state. Strict surveillance will be maintained at every corner of the state to allow citizens to cast their votes without fear.

Manohar Lal Khattar served as the Chief Minister of Haryana for around 9.5 years. He was succeeded by Nayab Singh Saini in March this year. BJP is contesting the polls under his leadership. Saini is contesting from the Ladwa constituency.

One of the prominent faces in the elections is wrestler Vinesh Phogat. She joined the Congress party on September 6, along with Olympian wrestler Bajrang Punia, following her disqualification from the women’s 50 kg final at the Paris Olympics.

The JJP-ASP alliance will contest all 90 Assembly constituencies in Haryana, with the JJP fielding candidates in 70 seats and the ASP in 20.

In the 2019 Assembly elections, the BJP won 40 of the 90 seats, forming a coalition government with the JJP, which won 10 seats. The Congress secured 31 seats. However, JJP later broke out of the coalition.