Haryana win boosts BJP; disunity and over-confidence cost Congress dearly

NEW DELHI: Turning predictions of all exit polls on their head and crushing the dominant narrative of a Congress comeback, the BJP on Tuesday pulled off a historic hat-trick in Haryana.

- VINAY KUMAR

This stunning victory is sure to act as a tonic for boosting the morale of party workers while delivering a blow to the Congress’s hopes for further ascendency in the political arena after the recent Lok Sabha polls.

For Congress, the phrase “snatching victory from the jaws of defeat” proved true, but in the opposite context: “the party snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.”

The victory in Haryana is bound to blunt detractors’ claims that the BJP’s grip was loosening over its supporters, bringing into sharp focus its organisational efficiency and the leadership’s keen ability to redraw strategies in line with the changing equations and dynamics on the ground.

It turned out to be a pleasant and fruitful “Super Tuesday” for the BJP, which not only defied exit poll predictions to secure a third straight term in Haryana but also went all out in its efforts to counter the decade-old antiincumbency in the state. As the party prepares for challenging state elections in Maharashtra and Jharkhand in a few weeks, and in Delhi early next year, the electoral victory in politically important Haryana will provide much-needed momentum. It will bolster its hopes of another come-from-behind victory.

Political observers also pointed out that, in this assembly election, the BJP worked in close cooperation and as a cohesive unit with its ideological mentor, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), putting to rest speculation that there were differences between the BJP top brass and RSS functionaries. It turned out that RSS functionaries were actively involved in finalising the party’s strategy across states. Often seen to be on the defensive when it has to battle local issues and caste factors, BJP leaders noted that the party successfully turned the tables on the Congress in Haryana by projecting the polls as a contest between the “parchi and kharchi” government led by Bhupinder Singh Hooda from 2004-14 and its “clean” administration since 2014.