Kiran Choudhry, a Congress MLA and a former minister in Haryana, has retained her seat as votes were counted on Thursday for state elections held four days ago. She is set for her fourth term as MLA in Haryana. The Congress was leading in 33 of the state's 90 seats while the BJP was facing an uphill task of maintaining a majority.
Ms Choudhry won from the Tosham assembly seat in Haryana with 57,828 votes. She won by a margin of 17 per cent.
Among the key Congress candidates in Haryana who won are former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and party leaders Kuldeep Bishnoi and Kiran Choudhry are leading in their respective constituencies. Mr Bishnoi defeated BJP candidate and TikTok star Sonali Phogat from his stronghold Adampur assembly constituency in Hisar district.
The Congress, galvanised by the unexpected trends, has reached out to Dushyant Chautala, the chief of the newly formed Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) to explore the possibility of forming a government.
Seven ministers of the ruling BJP were trailing as both the BJP and the Congress are locked in a tough contest, with no party looking set to attain majority on its own in the 90-member assembly, according to the latest trends.
The BJP, which had set a target of winning 75 seats ahead of the polls, was leading in 39 seats. The fledgling Jannayak Janta Party, which fought its maiden assembly polls, is also ahead in 10 seats.
Kiran Choudhry had won the Haryana polls in 2005, 2009 and 2014. She was an MLA in Delhi before entering Haryana politics in 2005.
Ms Choudhry was the Minister of Excise and Taxation and Public Health and Engineering in the Congress government led by Bhupinder Singh Hooda. She had made headlines in March 2014 when she was allegedly attacked during an election campaign for her daughter in Haryana's Narnaul.
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