New Delhi:

Leaders of the Congress, after the party’s huge setback in Haryana,  met the Election Commission this evening and registered a strong complaint, alleging that Electronic Voting Machines have been hacked. Party spokesman Pawan Khera said the hacking took place across 20 seats, for seven of which they have submitted documentary evidence. The papers for the other 13 will be submitted within 48 hours, he said. 

‘We have requested that all the machines be sealed and secured till investigations are completed,” Mr Khera told reporters.  The party, he said, has submitted evidence of hacking at Karnal, Dabwali, Rewari, Panipat City, Hodal, Kalka and Narnaul.

“Counting of votes in a fair, transparent and accountable manner is the hallmark of any electoral process that claims to be in consonance with the principles of free and fair elections and the doctrine of the level-playing field as envisaged by the Constitution,” the party memorandum to the EC said.

“It is a shocking result. Everyone said Congress will form government,” said former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who was the face of Congress campaign and the party’s Chief Ministerial candidate. 

Alleging tinkering, Mr Hooda said the Congress always wins when the postal ballots are opened but the numbers start sliding once the counting of votes from Electronic Voting Machines or EVMs begins.

The Congress won on 37 of Haryana’s 90 seats – remaining far behind the BJP, which with 48 seats won a historic third term.  As the voting trend became clear during yesterday’s counting, the party said the results were “unacceptable” and alleged that the EVMs have been hacked, drawing derisive jeers from the BJP. 

The Election Commission had denied any EVM discrepancy. In a letter to Congress chief President Mallikarjun Kharge today, the Election Commission referred to the “results are not acceptable” remarks of Congress leaders Jairam Ramesh and Pawan Khera.

“Such an unprecedented statement as above in a generic sense, unheard in the rich democratic heritage of the country, is far from a legitimate part of free speech and expression and moves towards an undemocratic rejection of the will of the people expressed in accordance with the Statutory and Regulatory electoral framework, uniformly applied across all elections in the country including J-K and Haryana,” the letter read.

The BJP has scooped up three Independent MLAs in Haryana to boost its wafer-thin margin. The country’s richest woman Savitri Jindal, who won as Independent candidate yesterday, has agreed to extend support to the BJP after Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan and former Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Deb met her this afternoon. With her, and two other Independents who have already declared support, the BJP’s number in the state assembly has reached 51.

The boost was needed given the BJPs’ numbers, even though the Congress posed no threat. In the 90-member assembly, the BJP has won 48 seats – just two above the majority mark of 46. The Congress, which won 37 seats, has refused to accept the results and alleged irregularities in the counting process. 

Savitri Jindal, the mother of BJP’s Kurukshetra MP Naveen Jindal, had won from her stronghold Hisar after contesting as an Independent against the BJP’s Kamal Gupta.  Hisar was earlier represented by her late husband, industrialist OP Jindal.

The 74-year-old, who had been part of Bhupinder Hooda’s government in 2013, had parted ways with the Congress in March when her son switched sides.  Later she joined the BJP, but chose to contest as an Independent after the BJP fielded Kamal Gupta. 

Earlier today, Independent MLAs Devender Kadyan and Rajesh Joon joined the BJP at the home of Union Minister and Haryana in-charge Dharmendra Pradhan in presence of state BJP chief Mohan Lal Badoli.

New Delhi:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi – fresh from celebrating a comeback win in the Haryana election Tuesday evening – was back firing barbs at the Congress this morning, accusing his rival of being an “irresponsible party” and labelling it a “factory to spread hatred”. The Congress, he raged, wants to “create fear among Muslims” so it gets minority community votes. “BJP has won the Haryana election… but in Maharashtra we have to get a bigger victory,” the PM declared as he launched his party’s next poll campaign.

The BJP’s “historic” win – it became the first party to win three consecutive terms in the heartland state – “shows the mood of the country”, he said as he inaugurated infra projects in poll-bound Maharashtra, where his party is allied with factions of the Shiv Sena and NCP.

“The Congress is doing politics of hatred… Congress is bent on destroying the country. We all have to be aware and cautious. I am sure the people of Maharashtra will give a befitting reply to all forces bent on destroying the society,” Mr Modi said via a video link.

“I am sure the people of Maharashtra will unite and vote for the BJP and the Mahayuti government (referring to the BJP-Sena-NCP trio headed by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde).”

READ | “First Time In Haryana Party Is Coming Back For 3rd Term”: PM Modi

Maharashtra (and Jharkhand) are scheduled to hold state elections this year. 

In the former the Congress’ poor showing in Haryana has invited scathing criticism from the Shiv Sena faction led by ex-Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, whose party is expected to sit down to discuss seat-sharing with its two allies – the Congress and Sharad Pawar’s NCP.

READ | “Arrogant, Overconfident”: Allies Twist  Knife On Congress’ Haryana Loss

The Congress’ Haryana and J&K results will not go down well in these talks.

Meanwhile, the PM also attacked the Congress for trying to “spread lies among the Dalits”, criticising the party for looking to “snatch reservation from them (the Dalits) and distribute them to their vote bank”.

“Entire ecosystem of Congress is about misleading the public. They tried to spread lies among Dalits but Dalits realised Congress will snatch reservations from them and distribute them to their vote bank. So Haryana Dalit community gave record support to BJP…”

READ | “Congress Minorities’ Biggest Enemy”: PM Flags “Key Issue” Of Quotas

The PM has frequently lashed out at the Congress on this issue – particularly in the run-up to the general election earlier this year – alleging it plans to tinker with existing quotas to benefit Muslims.

The Congress has just as frequently denied the allegation.

The Congress’ manifesto for the Lok Sabha election guaranteed increased reservation for marginalised groups, including Dalits, past the Supreme Court’s 50 per cent cap.

READ | “Its Best Friend…”: M Kharge On  BJP’s “Muslim League Imprint” Jab

That guarantee was slammed by the BJP as an “imprint of the Muslim League”.

In his speech the Prime Minister also accused the Congress of having “instigated” the farmers of Haryana, who joined their brethren from Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, and other states in their lakhs to protest against the centre’s farms laws and insist on legal backing for MSPs.

“Farmers of Haryana are happy with farmer-friendly schemes of BJP. Congress also tried to instigate youth. They all trust the BJP for a bright future… Haryana has shown they will not fall prey to the hatred conspiracies of the Congress and its urban Naxal allies…” the PM said.

With input from agencies

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New Delhi:

The architect of the BJP’s historic third victory in Haryana, Dharmendra Pradhan, is anything but flamboyant. A silent worker who stays in the background, he also is one of the closet aides of the party’s chief strategist Amit Shah.

The Odisha leader, who once handled the crucial petroleum ministry and is now in charge of education, has emerged over the years as the BJP’s go-to person for difficult states and tough electoral battles. Which is how, before Haryana, he was assigned the elections in Uttarakhand in 2017, Uttar Pradesh in 2022. His long-term project was home state Odisha, which the BJP won this year .

He was also the person who was given a single assignment in the 2021 battle for West Bengal — handle Nandigram, the constituency from where Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had lost, despite the party’s sweeping victory across the state.

Sources in the BJP said for these reasons, he was the obvious man for the job in Haryana, a state where the party was battling anti-incumbency and multiple disgruntled sections — Jats, farmers, army aspirants unhappy with the Agniveer scheme, party workers shaken by the high-pitched Congress campaign and ultimately, rebels within the BJP unhappy with ticket distribution.

Mr Pradhan’s battle plan, sources said, started with hunkering down at the spot. For over a month, he did not budge from the state, setting up camps at Rohtak, Kurukshetra and Panchkula.

He kept an ear to the ground — listening to party workers and leaders and liaising on their behalf with the Central leadership. He enthused workers, demystified the Congress campaign and helped with the candidate selection.

“He would go to ground zero and hold small meetings… he would take real time feedback from the workers and inform the leadership and rectify the shortcomings immediately. He also pacified the angry people in Haryana, identified the weak booths and adopted strong workers from other parties,” a BJP leader said.  

He even defused the tension that cropped up after the candidates’ list was drawn up. From around 25 rebels, the party had to deal with only three by the time the nomination withdrawal rolled around, BJP sources said. 

“After the announcement of the names of BJP candidates, there came a time when it seemed that the rebel candidates of BJP would spoil the game. More than two dozen rebel leaders were bent on contesting elections. But it was the success of Mr Pradhan and his team that as the date of withdrawal of nomination papers came near, only three rebels were left,” a BJP leader said on condition of anonymity.

His efforts paid off handsomely. The BJP has now won its third straight term in Haryana, emerging victorious in 48 of the state’s 90 assembly seats. The Congress has won 37 seats.

The BJP has done well in Jammu too, winning 29 of the 90 seats in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

New Delhi:

The BJP is headed for a third straight term in Haryana, turning the exit poll predictions on its head. The BJP is leading in 49 of Haryana’s 90 seats. The Congress trailed with 34, and said it refused to accept the results. Here are the big winners in the state and the upsets: 

Winners

Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini led has won from his Ladwa constituency, over Congress’ Mewa Singh. The BJP has decided that Mr Saini would remain in the top post, sources said — an acknowledgement of his role in dispelling the accumulated anti-incumbency against his predecessor Manohar Lal Khattar’s government.

Former state minister Anil Vij of the BJP has won from the Ambala Cantonment, beating Congress’s Parvinder Pal Pari by 44989 votes. Although BJP had made it clear before the polls that Nayab Singh Saini will retain his post if the party wins, Mr Vij, a six-time MLA, had recently thrown his hat in the ring for the post. Asked about the matter today, Mr Vij said he has always dedicated himself for the party and never asked anything.

Congress’s Bhupinder Singh Hooda has retained his Garhi Sampla-Kiloi seat in Rohtak district, defeating his nearest BJP rival, Manju. Mr Hooda, 77, won by a convincing margin of 71,465 votes defeating BJP’s Manju Hooda.

Congress candidate and wrestler Vinesh Phogat defeated her nearest rival and BJP nominee Yogesh Kumar by a margin of 6,015 votes. Election Commission data shows the Olympian had polled 65,080 votes while her BJP opponent secured 59,065 votes. “It is a victory of ‘sangharh’ (struggle) and victory of truth… I will always keep the trust and love of the people,” she said after the results were announced.

Congress Rajya Sabha MP Randeep Singh Surjewala’s son Aditya Surjewala defeated BJP’s sitting MLA Leela Ram by a margin of 8,124 votes. This was the debut election for the 25-year-old who had contested from Haryana’s Kaithal.  A graduate from the from the University of British Columbia, he had to face the taunts of “super foreigner” from the BJP.

Losers

Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) leader Abhay Singh Chautala lost from the Ellenabad assembly seat in Haryana. Mr Chautala, the outgoing MLA, was defeated by Congress candidate Bharat Singh Beniwal by a margin of 15,000 votes.

Dushyant Chautala, the chief of Jannayak Janata Party, has lost to the BJP’s Devender Chatar Bhuj Atttri from the Uchana Kalan constituency. The former ally of the BJP, which broke alliance ahead of the Lok Sabha elections citing farmers’ anger and anti-incumbency against the BJP, has failed to post a single victory in this election.

Udai Bhan, the chief of Haryana Congress, has lost to the BJP’s Harinder Singh from Haryana’s Hodal assembly seat by a margin of over 2,500 votes, underscoring the Opposition party’s defeat in the election it was hoping to win. It also raises questions about the Congress support among Scheduled Castes, which the party had been banking on along with Jat support in this election.

Congress’s Surender Panwar, who recently made headlines for being investigated in a case involving illegal mining, has lost from Sonipat to the BJP’s Nikhil Maadan by a margin of 29627 votes. Mr Panwar was the sitting MLA from Sonipat, having won in the 2019 polls against the BJP’s Kavita Jain. 

Dharam Singh Chhoker, the Congress MLA from Samalkha, lost to the BJP’s Manmohan Bhadana by 19,315 votes.  Considered a close aide of Congress’s former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, he is facing a money laundering case filed by the Enforcement Directorate. His son Sikhander Singh is arrested in the same case. 

Jannayak Janta Party leader Dushyant Chautala, a former coalition partner of the BJP, lost his Uchana Kalan seat in the Haryana polls, the votes for which were counted today.

BJP candidate Devender Chatar Bhuj Attri emerged the winner by a margin of just 32 votes, as per the Election Commission. He beat his nearest rival and Congress candidate and former IAS officer Brijendra Singh.

Mr Chautala, who was the outgoing MLA from Uchana seat, was at the fifth spot.

Mr Attri polled 48,968 votes while Congress’ Singh, who is the son of former union minister Birender Singh, secured 48,936 votes. Mr Chautala got 7,950 votes.

In the 2019 elections, 36-year-old Dushyant Chautala defeated Prem Lata, the wife of veteran leader Birender Singh, who was with the BJP at that time.

After the last assembly polls in Haryana, the BJP formed the government with the support of the 10 JJP MLAS. Dushyant Chautala was the Deputy Chief Minister. The parties fell out over seat sharing in the state for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

This time, however, beating anti-incumbency and exit poll predictions, the BJP is leading in 49 of Haryana’s 90 seats. The Congress, shocked by the result, says that it cannot accept them.