Haryana heading for hung assembly, govt formation to hinge on JJP's support

Chandigarh, Oct 24: The counting of votes for the Haryana Assembly elections is underway and the trend after the first two hours shows that the Congress has bettered its performance as compared to 2014. The BJP was leading in 35 seats while the Congress in 32, as of 10.30 am on Thursday. The JJP, a breakaway faction of the INLD, was leading in 13 seats. If these leads translate to the final result, the JJP would emerge as a kingmaker.

The majority mark needed to form the government in Haryana is 46 and both the Congress, BJP seem to fall short of the mark. A News18 report based on sources says that the Congress is willing to support the JJP.

Some reports are also claiming that JJP chief Dushyant Chautala is willing to support any of the two parties on the condition of being made a CM.

Hectic parlays are underway and ML Khattar is said to have been called to the BJP headquarters in Delhi.

In the Haryana Assembly elections 2014, the BJP won 47 of the 90 seats and wrested power from Congress which ruled the state for 10 years till then. 2014 Haryana elections saw a major change in the voting pattern as the BJP gained by 43 seats compared to 2009 while the Congress' seat share nosedived.

As the 2019 Haryana polls drew near, the BJP set itself a target to better its performance over 2014 and coined a campaign phrase "abki baar 75 paar" (This time, more than 75). It appeared to be a realistic goal about four months ago as both the opposition parties, Congress and INLD, were facing an internal crisis.

In 2014, the Modi wave blurred the caste lines, the BJP won 47 of the 90 seats in the last Haryana assembly elections. In the Lok Sabha elections held earlier this year, the BJP swept Haryana riding the Modi wave 2.0.

Who is Dushyant Chautala

Dushyant Chautala is the grandson of former Haryana chief minister Om Prakash Chautala. Dushyant Chautala defeated Kuldeep Bishnoi of the Haryana Janhit Congress (BL) by a margin of 31,847 votes in 2014 Lok Sabha Elections to become the youngest ever elected member of the Parliament.