The BJP scripted a historic win in the Haryana Vidhan Sabha elections, notching up 47 seats to get a clear majority in the 90-member House. The party that has never got more than 10 per cent of the votes and played second fiddle to regional partners in the past, swept aside competition from the Congress and the Indian National Lok Dal to mop up 33.2 per cent of the votes.
The BJP victory came despite the absence of any State leader of note and with a skeletal party structure. The BJP depended entirely on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s charisma while tiptoeing around Haryana’s infamous caste minefields.
The BJP Parliamentary Board has decided to send Union Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu and party vice-president Dinesh Sharma to Chandigarh to finalise the Chief Minister. The BJP’s main aspirants for the post namely Manohar Lal Khattar, Capt Abhimanyu, Ram Bilas Sharma and Om Prakash Dhankar have all won.