Haryana Election Result: All 3 Independents back BJP day after poll results, party's tally rises to 51

Nayab Saini called on PM Narendra Modi at the latter's 7, LKM residence on Wednesday. (X/@NayabSainiBJP)

The Bharatiya Janata Party has set the ball rolling on government formation after the party registered its third consecutive victory in the Haryana Assembly elections. In the results declared by the Election Commission of India on Tuesday, the BJP emerged as the winner in 48 of the 90 Assembly seats while the Congress lagged behind at 37 seats. The INLD bagged 2 seats while Independents won in three.

The BJP received another shot in the arm as all three Independent MLAs - Devender Kadyan from Ganaur, Rajesh Joon from Bahadurgarh and Savitri Jindal from Hisar - announced their support to the BJP, taking its tally in the Haryana Assembly to 51.

While Devender Kadyan and Rajesh Joon announced support to the BJP earlier in the day, Savitri Jindal met Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan and pother BJP leaders in Delhi before announcing her decision.

#WATCH | Delhi: Independent MLA from Haryana's Hisar Assembly seat, Savitri Jindal extends support to BJPShe says, "...For the development of Hisar, I have decided to support the BJP government." pic.twitter.com/nfWA7bjcVd
ANI (@ANI) October 9, 2024

Kadyan and Joon joined the BJP at the residence of Union minister and the party's Haryana in-charge Dharmendra Pradhan in the presence of state unit chief Mohan Lal Badoli. Savitri Jindal, who joined the BJP in March this year, had quit after being denied a ticket for the elections.

Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, who is likely to get a second term on the post, today called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the latter’s 7, Lok Kalyan Marg residence in New Delhi. Reports indicate that the BJP could hold the swearing-in ceremony for the new Haryana government on Saturday on the occasion of Dussehra.

@narendramodi , https://t.co/A0SXrfcYg6Nayab Saini (@NayabSainiBJP) October 9, 2024

“We are planning a grand victory ceremony on the occasion of the swearing-in ceremony. Panchkula’s Tau Devi Lal Stadium and Parade Ground Sector-5 are among the options for the venue,” The Indian Express quoted a BJP leader as saying.

After his meeting with the Prime Minister, Saini credited the Prime Minister for the BJP’s victory in Haryana. “I have told Pradhan Mantri ji about the landslide victory of BJP in Haryana. I told him that the people of Haryana have a lot of affection for you which resulted in the formation of the double-engine government in Haryana for the third time,” he said.

Asked about the swearing-in ceremony, Saini said that the decision would rest with the party’s parliamentary board. “I don’t know about it. Our parliamentary board will decide this. The parliamentary board’s decision will be acceptable to all. The legislative group of the party will elect its leader,” Saini said.

Unlike its strategy in several states earlier, the BJP entered the Haryana elections with Nayab Saini, a non-Jat OBC leader, as its chief ministerial face. Addressing a poll rally in Faridabad on September 17, Union Home Minister Amit Shah backed Saini as the Chief Minister and credited the launch of numerous welfare schemes by the BJP to his leadership.

"Nayab Singh Saini is moving forward with a vision for a new Haryana,” Shah had said then. The BJP legislature party is likely to meet on Thursday and elect a new leader. Saini could emerge as the unanimous choice, media reports citing sources said.

Other than the date, time and venue of the oath ceremony, the BJP also needs to decide who the new ministers of the Haryana Cabinet. Haryana can have a maximum of 14 ministers, including the chief minister.

Eight of the 10 ministers fielded by the BJP lost the election along with the Assembly Speaker Gian Chand Gupta. The ministers who lost included Ranjit Singh, Kanwar Pal Gujjar, Subhash Sudha, Jai Parkash Dalal, Abhe Singh Yadav, Sanjay Singh, Kamal Gupta and Aseem Goel.