BJP draws a blank in 3 Haryana districts; INLD in 12, Congress in 13

Chandigarh, Oct 20: Despite storming to power in Haryana on 'Modi wave', BJP has failed to open its account in three of the 21 districts, while INLD and Congress drew a blank in 12 and 13 districts, respectively.

Electors in Muslim-dominated Mewat, Palwal and Sirsa districts could not be swayed by BJP as the party could not taste any success on 11 Assembly seats.

In five districts of Fatehabad, Jind, Kaithal, Rohtak and Sonipat, which account for 22 Assembly seats, BJP could win only five seats-- one seat in each district. However, the party swept all 26 Assembly constituencies falling in seven districts of the state. The saffron party knocked out the rivals outrightly in Ambala, Gurgaon, Karnal, Majendragarh, Panchkula, Rewari and Yamunanagar districts.

The party won all four Assembly segments each in Ambala, Gurgaon, Mahendragarh and Yamunanagar districts. In Karnal district, BJP won all five Assembly seats. It left its rivals behind in Rewari by winning all three Assembly seats in the district and all two Assembly segments in Panchkula district.

Till now, politics in Haryana has mostly veered around Congress and INLD. But this time, Congress failed to get a single Assembly seat in 13 districts while INLD drew a blank in 12 districts.

The party failed to win any seat in 12 districts of Ambala, Gurgaon, Jhajjar, Kaithal, Karnal, Mahendargarh, Panchkula, Panipat, Rewari, Rohtak, Sonipat and Yamunanagar which have 48 Assembly seats. INLD swept Sirsa district, considered its pocket borough, which came as a breather for its jailed leader Om Parkash Chautala as the party is out of power in the state for about a decade.

The fifth seat in the district was won by its ally Shirmani Akali Dal (SAD). INLD's performance in its stronghold Jind, Hisar, Fatehabad, Bhiwani and Kurukshetra was also not upto its mark. In Jind and Hisar, INLD won three Assembly segments each out of a total of five and seven, respectively.

The party pulled a surprise by winning two out of the three Assembly seats in Mewat district. Congress, which has ruled the state for about a decade, baged five seats fram a total of six in Sonipat district, three out of four in Rohtak district, two each in Palwal and Jhajjar districts out of a total three and four seats, respectively.

Congress led by Bhupinder Singh Hooda, which highlighted its development initiatives in the state but faced criticism over "lopsided" development, land deals, favouritism in jobs and corruption, was completely rejected by voters in Ambala, Fatehabad, Gurgaon, Hisar, Jind, Karnal, Kurukshetra, Mahendragarh, Mewat, Panchkula, Panipat, Rewari and Sirsa district which have 53 Assembly seats.

PTI