During the coverage of the Haryana Assembly Elections, a woman named Seema Parmar, resident of Bhiwani Assembly constituency confidently told me that, “Congress na jeetegi bhai, BJP teesri baar aavegi, Congress to bas shor machave hai” (Congress will not win, BJP will secure a hat-trick. Congress is just making noise). And on October 8, 2024, her words proved right as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) made history by securing a third consecutive term, becoming the first party in Haryana’s 57-year history to achieve such a feat. This victory, as anticipated by pollsters and political pundits, came against the backdrop of a strong negative and caste-based campaign by Congress. But the BJP, with its leadership and strategic planning, managed to turn the tide in its favour.
Nayab Saini: A Strategic Masterstroke
BJP’s decision to appoint OBC leader Nayab Singh Saini as the chief ministerial candidate was a decisive move. Saini replaced the then Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, who resigned in March 2024 after BJP’s alliance with Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) ended. Saini’s entry into the top position came at a critical time when anti-incumbency and Jat discontent against BJP were at the peak. However, Saini’s populist decisions quickly ended much of the public anger, paving the way for BJP’s electoral success.
Saini’s Government positive initiatives, ensuring job security for Agniveers post their tour of duty, and expanded the Minimum Support Price (MSP) to include ten more crops. These decisions resonated well with Haryana’s agrarian community, particularly at a time when Opposition parties were attempting to label the BJP as anti-farmers. In his brief stint of four months before the model code of conduct kicked in, Saini’s administration made over 100 crucial decisions that directly impacted the people, contributing to BJP’s victory.
Ahirwal: The Gateway to Chandigarh
The Ahirwal region (dominated by Yadav community), which consists of key districts like Gurgaon, Rewari, Faridabad, and Bhiwani-Mahendergarh, played a pivotal role in BJP’s triumph. With over 60 per cent of the electorate residing in urban centres, this region holds significant political weight, accounting for 28 out of Haryana’s 90 Assembly seats. Historically, Ahirwal has been a BJP stronghold, and this election was no different. BJP swept the region by winning 21 out of the 28 seats. In previous elections, the BJP had secured 15 seats from this belt in 2014 and 16 in 2019, but this time, despite a ten-year anti-incumbency factor, the region stood firmly with the saffron party. The party’s stronghold in the urban region of Ahirwal once again proved to be a crucial factor in its electoral strategy, securing BJP’s best-ever performance in the region.
Clean Governance
What many pundits and media analysts failed to recognise in this election was that, BJP focused on making a ‘corruption-free Haryana’. Over the past decade, the BJP-led Government in Haryana worked on the slogan of “bina kharchi aur bina parchi”—meaning jobs and services are offered without bribery or favouritism, purely on merit. The BJP’s policy on merit-based Government jobs also found significant traction, with young voters feeling more hopeful about securing employment under the current Government
This approach, especially in a State like Haryana, where Government jobs resonated deeply with the youth worked in the right way. As one local of Hisar told Oragniser during the election coverage, “Agar Hooda sahab aa gaye toh phir se rishwat dekar aur community ke base par hi naukri milegi” (If Bhupinder Singh Hooda comes back to power, jobs will once again be sold based on bribes and community favouritism). Under BJP, Haryana witnessed significant infrastructural development, improvements in women’s security, better electricity distribution, and the construction of roads. These tangible changes made the real difference.
Congress’ Fake Narratives Failed
Congress’s narrative of branding BJP as anti-farmer, anti-soldier, and anti-wrestler largely fell flat. One of the biggest examples of this failure was Gurnam Singh Chaduni’s defeat. Chaduni, who rose to prominence during the farmers’ protests against the Modi Government’s agricultural laws, contested from the Pehowa constituency and managed to secure only 1,170 votes. Haryana, known for its patriotism, contributes nearly ten per cent of India’s Armed Forces, also did not show any significant backlash against the Agniveer scheme, as created by the Congress.
Factionalism & Overconfidence led to Congress’s Downfall
The internal politics within the Congress party made its election problems even worse. With Bhupinder Singh Hooda firmly in control of the party’s ticket distribution, the Congress leadership largely banked on the Jat community to deliver a victory. However, this alienated other key voter bases, such as the Dalits, Punjabis, Baniyas and non-Jat communities.
Kumari Selja, a big Dalit leader of Congress, was largely sidelined during the campaign. Despite her significant influence among Dalits, her requests for ticket distribution were ignored. This factionalism between Hooda and Selja further divided the Congress party, with Selja skipping key events, including the party’s manifesto launch. Hooda’s overconfidence also led to the party’s refusal to make an alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which could have helped it to consolidate its anti-BJP votes. Arvind Kejriwal while taunting Bhupinder Singh Hooda said, “The biggest lesson of this is that one should never be overconfident in elections.” This proved to be true for Congress, which lost an opportunity to return back to power in Haryana.
Another ally of the Congress Shiv Sena (UBT) also attacked the party, In its editorial in Saamana, the Uddhav Sena’s mouthpiece, it warned Congress leaders in poll-bound Maharashtra to learn from Congress’s defeat in Haryana, which was due to the “overconfidence and arrogance of the state leadership”.
Interestingly, after getting less number of seats in the Lok Sabha 2024 elections, BJP and its allied ideological organisations galvanised the rural parts of Haryana by communicating with all 36 communities of the state on the issues of national importance. The mobilisation of voters on the ground was also critical this time.
It is important to note that Congress did not secure a decisive victory on any seat except for Punhana, Ferozpur Jhirka, and Garhi Sampla. Two of these three—Punhana and Ferozpur Jhirka—are Muslim-dominated seats, while Garhi Sampla is the stronghold of Bhupinder Singh Hooda. Congress won Punhana by over 32,000 votes and Ferozpur Jhirka by nearly one lakh votes. In both of these constituencies, Muslims strategically voted against the BJP candidates, even though BJP candidates were also Muslims.
Conclusion
After the defeat, Congress once again complained about problems with the EVMs, even claiming that the batteries in the machines weren’t fully charged. Instead of blaming the EVMs Congress should look into the internal party disputes and should focus on the developmental issues rather than just relying on the caste-based politics. BJP should learn from this victory that while the credibility of national leaders should be leveraged, the connection of State leaders must also be empowered.
Ultimately, it was the people of Haryana who stamped their approval on BJP’s decade-long governance. The promise of transparency, development, and inclusiveness triumphed over Opposition narratives of anti-incumbency and farmers distress. As the dust settles on another historic victory for the BJP, one thing is clear—the people of Haryana have once again placed their trust in a party that delivered on its promises rather than on the leaders who were fighting for their own place in the party.
This victory in Haryana will energise BJP workers, and will likely give the party a strong momentum for the upcoming elections in Maharashtra and Jharkhand next month.
