Congress to halt BJP’s hat-trick run with easy win in Haryana, show exit polls

The Congress’s last stint in power was also for two terms, between 2005 and 2014.

Meanwhile, the state saw a voter turnout of 61 per cent till 5 pm.

Among the top names in the fray were Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, the BJP’s Anil Vij and O P Dhankar, the Congress’s Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Vinesh Phogat, the INLD’s Abhay Singh Chautala and the JJP’s Dushyant Chautala.

While the primary contest was between the ruling BJP and Congress, the state’s alliance dynamics has seen a churn. Ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the BJP ended its tie-up with the Dushyant Chautala-led Jannayak Janta Party (JJP), which has now allied with Chandrashekhar Azad’s Aazad Samaj Party. While the Opposition INDIA bloc partners Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had struck a seat-sharing deal for the general elections, they were unable to come to an agreement for the Assembly polls. And the O P Chautala-led Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) is contesting with the Mayawati-led BSP.

Exit polls for the last assembly elections in 2019 projected the BJP to register a more emphatic victory. However, the election resulted in a hung Assembly, with no party securing a majority. The BJP eventually formed the government with the support of the JJP and several Independent MLAs.