Assembly election result: In thank you note, PM Modi and Amit Shah reveal BJP’s next move in Haryana
The hung assembly thrown up in Haryana elections had sparked off hectic political outreach.
In their first public reaction to the results of the Haryana and Maharashtra elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party chief Amit Shah congratulated chief ministers of Maharashtra and Haryana for the party’s performance and thanked people for giving the party another opportunity to serve people.
The BJP-Shiv Sena alliance fell short of its ambitious target of 220-plus seats but has secured a clear majority in the 288-member Maharashtra assembly. But government formation isn’t an open and shut case in Haryana where the BJP, which had contested the state’s 90 seats, fell short of the majority mark. It has won or is leading in 40 seats. The majority mark is 46.
The hung assembly thrown up in Haryana elections had sparked off hectic political outreach. Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who led the party’s campaign in the state against chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar, swiftly put out an appeal to other parties and independents to join hands to prevent the BJP from returning to power.
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The BJP hasn’t announced its intention to stake claim. That hint came in PM Modi and Amit Shah’s tweets.
“The (Manohar Lal) Khattar government in Haryana has made every effort for people’s welfare under the central leadership of (Narendra) Modi. I thank people for making the BJP the single-largest party and giving it another opportunity to serve them,” said Shah in a tweet.
PM Modi followed up on Shah’s tweets a few minutes later.
“I thank the people of Haryana for blessing us. We will continue to work with the same zeal and dedication for the state’s progress. I laud the efforts of hardworking @BJP4Haryana Karyakartas who toiled extensively and went among the people to elaborate on our development agenda,” he said in a tweet on Haryana.
A senior BJP leader told Hindustan Times that a decision to stake claim had been made. The party leadership believes that the BJP can form the next government with the support of some rebel candidates and smaller parties, two people familiar with the development said.
The BJP leader did not elaborate on the details of the party’s strategy but pointed that there were people such as Indian National Lok Dal’s Abhay Singh Chautala who would rather support the BJP than a formation that would place rival Dushyant Chautala’s Jannayak Janata Party in a pole position.
