Amitabh Shukla | Chandigarh
Riding a Modi wave in the
backdrop of the anti-incumbency factor against the ruling Congress, the BJP
swept Haryana and will form the Government for the first time alone. The BJP
Parliamentary Board on Sunday evening decided to send Parliamentary Affairs
Minister Venkaiah Naidu and BJP vice-president Dinesh Sharma to Haryana as the
party’s observers to consult the elected candidates and local leaders to decide
on the next Chief Minister of the State.
Haryana BJP chief Ram Bilas
Sharma, BJP Jat face in the State Captain Abhimanyu and Manohar Lal Khattar, a
60-plus former RSS man, who won from Karnal, are among the hopefuls for the
Chief Minister’s post, in addition to Anil Vij, who is four-time MLA from
Ambala Cantt and leader of BJP legislature party in the outgoing Assembly.
Winning 47 seats in the 90-member
Assembly, the party had fought the polls without projecting any chief
ministerial candidate opening a flood of possibilities for the State leaders
vying for the top job. In the 2009 polls, the BJP had won only four seats, indicating
the groundswell of support and splendid performance in the polls.
Bogged down by anti-Congress
sentiments, infighting within the party, refusal of the voters to buy the
developmental plank of the party, lack of vision for governance, series of
scams pertaining to change in land use and the infamous Robert Vadra-DLF deal,
Chief Minister Bhupinder Hooda was fighting a losing battle from the beginning.
As soon as the results became clear, he accepted defeat, went to the Governor
and resigned. He has been asked to continue as a caretaker Chief Minister till
a Government takes over.
A beaming Kailash Vijayvargiya,
in-charge of the BJP’s election in Haryana said: “People of Haryana wanted a
change. Our party cadres and leaders worked very hard. The credit for our
success has to go to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah.”
When a record 76.54 per cent
electorate came out to vote on October 15, the writing was on the wall for the
ruling Congress. This was a positive turnout and a vote for change. The rise in
vote share of the BJP was a stupendous 24 per cent, catapulting it to power
with 33.2 per cent of the votes. Last minute support of the influential
Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda helped the party close some seats. This was the
first time the BJP fought Haryana polls alone without any alliance.
All of the BJP’s chief
ministerial candidates won. This included Manohar Lal Khattar from Karnal,
State BJP president Ram Bilas Sharma from Mahendergarh, Capt Abhimanyu from
Narnaund and Anil Vij from Ambala Cantt.Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda
retained the family bastion of Garhi Sampla-Kiloi while Kiran Chowdhury,
daughter-in-law of former Chief Minister Bansi Lal retained her Tosham seat.
INLD’s Abhay Singh Chautala, son
of jailed party chief Om Prakash Chautala also won from Ellenabad and so did
Naina Chautala, wife of jailed leader Ajay Chautala from Dabwali.Kuldeep
Bishnoi Haryana Janhit Congress chief and son of former Chief Minister Bhajan
Lal won from the family stronghold from Adampur, a seat which his father
represented on several occasions. His wife Renuka Bishnoi also won from Hansi.
In the BJP wave, the most
prominent loser was sitting MP from Hisar, Dushyant Chautala who tried his luck
from Uchana Kalan on INLD ticket. Ajay Singh Yadav, the five-time Congress MLA
and Minister in the Hooda Cabinet lost from Rewari in what is known as the
Ahirwal. Despite aggressive campaigning, Geetika Sharma abetment to suicide
case accused Gopal Kanda of Haryana Lokhit Party lost from Sirsa. Venod Sharma,
the chief of Jan Chetna Party who had an alliance with HJC led by Kuldeep
Bishnoi lost from Ambala City
For External Affairs Minister
Sushma Swaraj, the biggest setback was loss of her sister Vandana Sharma from Safidon. Contesting on a Congress
ticket, the country’s richest woman Savitri Jindal too lost from Hisar. In the
Lok Sabha polls, her son and coal scam tainted Naveen Jindal had lost from
Kurukshetra.
Now BJP is spoilt for a choice.
It would be tough for the party to decide who would be the Chief Minister of
the State. The election was fought in the name of Modi and collective
leadership.
The names doing rounds include
RSS activist Manohar Lal Khattar, state BJP president Ram Bilas Sharma, BJP
spokesman Capt Abhimanyu, Legislature party leader in the outgoing House Anil
Vij, besides two Union Ministers who did not contest. Party sources, however,
indicated that it could be one of the MLAs who would be the chosen for the top
job. A decision is likely to be taken by the BJP Parliamentary Board on Monday.
(October 20, 2014 )
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