india

Updated: May 24, 2019 00:05 IST

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday scored a perfect 10 in Haryana, winning all 10 Lok Sabha seats, and bettering its 2014 tally when it had bagged seven seats.

With its eyes on the assembly polls to be held later this year, the party, which had contested eight seats in 2014, went it alone this time, winning nine seats by hefty margins.

The Congress, which emerged as the BJP’s main rival, was routed, with most of its candidates losing by over a lakh votes.

Among the biggest losers were former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who lost by 1.62 lakh votes from Sonipat, state Congress president Ashok Tanwar who lost Sirsa by about 3.08 lakh votes, senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Kumari Selja who lost by 3.40 lakh votes from Ambala and Shruti Choudhary, daughter of Congress legislature party leader Kiran Choudhary, from Bhiwani-Mahendragarh by 4.35 lakh votes.

The results spelt bad news for candidates of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) and its breakaway Jannayak Janta Party (JJP). All INLD candidates forfeited deposits with Arjun Chautala, son of INLD leader Abhay Chautala, finishing fifth from Kurukshetra.

Barring JJP’s Dushyant Chautala, the sitting MP from Hisar, all JJP candidates lost their deposits. Dushyant’s younger brother Digvijay Chautala, who contested from Sonipat, finished third, only managing about 50,000 votes.

The big wins for the BJP came from Karnal where Sanjay Bhatia won by over 6.54 lakh votes; Faridabad from where Union minister Krishan Pal Gurjar won by 6.36 lakh votes; Bhiwani-Mahendragarh from where Dharambir Singh won by 4.35 lakh votes, Gurgaon where Union minister Rao Inderjit Singh won by over 3.82 lakh votes and Hisar, where Brijendra Singh, a former IAS officer and son of Union minister, Birender Singh won by 3.11 lakh votes.

Chandigarh-based retired journalist VP Prabhakar said the BJP’s thumping win in Haryana was a result of the positive developmental agenda and accessible governance of chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar, coupled with an undercurrent of support for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“The decisiveness shown by the prime minister in undertaking the Balakot air strikes and Uri surgical strike fired the imagination of the people of the state, a large number of whom have a connect with the armed forces,’’ Prabhakar said.

State Congress chief Ashok Tanwar said it was not a win for the BJP candidates, but a win for Narendra Modi, whose image secured the party’s victory, he said.

Crediting the prime minister, Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar said the BJP’s win showed that the people rejected dynastic politics, regional discrimination, nepotism and favouritism.