Chandigarh: The Congress which has so far performed well above expectations in the Haryana Assembly elections, has reached out to Dushyant Chautala, the man many say will be kingmaker in case of a close fight.
The BJP was ahead in 36 of the 90 Assembly seats while the Congress led in 32 seats, making the contest wide open in Haryana.
The Congress, accused of running a listless campaign amid massive infighting, has reportedly started talks with possible allies. The party has approached out to Dushyant Chautala, whose Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) is less than a year old.
Sources have confirmed that the Congress’s Deependra Hooda met Dushyant Chautala Wednesday evening. According to many, they had a fruitful meeting.
“The way these trends are showing, it is clear people voted for change,” Chautala was quoted as saying on national news channel. The keys to the next government will be in the hands of the JJP.”
The BJP looked far from its ‘Mission 75’ target in Haryana, a state where it came to power on its own for the first time in 2014. Underscoring the ruling party’s bleak outlook, several of its ministers were trailing.
“These are just leads, let the final results come out and we will see. The picture will be clear then,” stated Naveen Kumar, BJP spokesperson.
While most exit polls projected a comfortable victory for the BJP, one predicted a neck-and-neck fight between the BJP and Congress with the JJP emerging as kingmaker.
Agencies