BJP Defies Anti-Incumbency In Haryana Polls, But 8 Ministers Fall Short

The BJP may have defied exit poll predictions to pull off a surprise victory in the Haryana election, but eight ministers in the incumbent Nayab Singh Saini government and Assembly Speaker Gian Chand Gupta suffered defeat.

Among the ministers who lost this election is Ranjit Singh, who served as Haryana's power minister from 2019-2024. The former MP finished third in Haryana's Rania seat, which was won by Indian National Lok Dal's Arjun Chautala.

Kanwar Pal Gujjar, who handled multiple portfolios in the incumbent government and also served as Haryana Assembly Speaker from 2014-2019, lost in Jagadhri today. He was defeated by the Congress's Akram Khan by a margin of nearly 7,000 votes.

The other ministers who suffered defeats amid the BJP's surprise victory in this election are Subhash Sudha in Thanesar seat, Jai Parkash Dalal from Loharu, Abhe Singh Yadav in Nangal, Sanjay Singh in Nuh, Kamal Gupta in Hisar and Aseem Goel in Ambala City. Of these, Sanjay Singh and Kamal Gupta finished third.

Haryana Assembly Speaker Gian Chand Gupta, who won the Panchkula Assembly seat in 2014 and 2019, has lost it this time to the Congress's Chander Mohan, son of former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal.

Chief Minister Saini, however, posted a victory in Ladwa constituency.

Defying exit poll predictions and anti-incumbency theories, the BJP scored its best poll show in Haryana today, winning 48 out of 90 seats and comfortably defeating the main Opposition Congress, which was widely seen as the favourite in this poll contest.

The Congress was leading in early trends and party supporters responded by celebrating before the trends stabilised. As the counting entered later rounds, the BJP first clawed back and then left Congress far behind -- at 37 seats.