BJP set to win Haryana vote in boost for Modi, Congress rejects outcome

NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) headed for a surprise election victory in Haryana state on Tuesday, reinforcing its popularity in the northern heartland a few months after stumbling in national elections.

But the main opposition Congress party, which had been projected by exit polls to win Haryana, said it would not accept the result as it was “totally unexpected, completely surprising and counter-intuitive”.

The Congress reaction was unusual in the world’s most populous democracy where the credibility of elections has rarely been questioned in recent decades.

Held in phases that ended on Saturday, the provincial elections posed Modi’s first test of popularity since his return in June as prime minister for a record third straight term, although he needed the help of regional parties after failing to win a majority in a shock outcome.

A fall in support in rural parliamentary constituencies, unemployment, and a fear that the BJP could scrap affirmative action quotas for the so-called lower castes was blamed for the party’s poor showing in the general election.

Provincial elections are mostly decided by local issues and the BJP was projected to lose Haryana due to anti-incumbency sentiment after ruling it for a decade, indicating more trouble for Modi’s party before bigger state elections in coming months.

“I salute the people of Haryana for giving a clear majority,” Modi posted on X in his first reaction. “This is the victory of the politics of development and good governance. I assure people that we will leave no stone unturned to fulfil their aspirations.”