Turning the Congress narrative of kisan (farmers), pehelwan (wrestlers) and jawan (youth) on its head, former Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar has said that the opposition party can never do what the BJP has done for these groups. This, he said, was one of the reasons his party was headed for a record third straight win in Haryana.
Ahead of the Assembly elections in Haryana, the Congress had sought to capitalise on the discontent among farmers over the farm laws and minimum support price (MSP), among sportspersons over the wrestlers' protest and among youth over unemployment and the Agniveer scheme for recruitment in the Army.
It had banked on these three planks to dislodge the BJP from power after 10 years and the strategy seemed to be working even until 9.30 am this morning, when leads showed that it was winning more than the 46 seats needed to get a majority.
Things turned around quite quickly after that, however, and speaking to reporters around 3.30 pm, Mr Khattar attributed the BJP's win to the work that the party has done in the last 10 years. The BJP leader, who is now a Union minister, was the Haryana chief minister until March this year, when he was replaced by Nayab Singh Saini.
To a question on the three issues raised by the Congress, he said in Hindi, "These were indeed the issues. The things we have done for Haryana's kisan, jawan and pehelwan, the Congress could have never done. The Congress can say whatever it likes, the people will like only what is correct. They were not led astray by the Congress. Haryana's democracy and people are very mature."
Mr Khattar also hit out at the Congress over its claims that the Election Commission was slow in updating the Haryana results on its website and said the party was looking for an excuse.
On whether Nayab Singh Saini would be the next chief minister, Mr Khattar said, "Our high command and Union Home Minister Amit Shah had clearly made this announcement. Still, the process is that it is in the hands of the parliamentary board and, I think, that is how it will continue."
Leads and results as of 4.02 pm showed that the BJP was ahead in 49 seats in Haryana while the Congress was leading in 36. PM Narendra Modi will address BJP workers at the party headquarters in Delhi later this evening.
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