Rahul's unsubstantiated rhetoric against Adani-Ambani and corporate houses boomeranged as Middle Class was alienated

Prime Minister Narendra Modi described the Congress as a party which was against the youth and the army and also anti-India that "tries to ruin the reputation of every institution Indians are proud of".

"Before the Lok Sabha election, the Congress, their alliance partners and Urban Naxal friends went to the court several times to disrupt the functioning of these institutions. They question their neutrality, their independence. They have been doing that a lot,' he said. 

The Congress had infighting to the core and local analysts at Narwana-Julana belt even said in the run up to the polls, a section of Bhupinder Singh Hooda camp was playing into the hands of BJP strategists. 

Rahul Gandhi insisted that the Congress should pitch itself against industrialists like Ambani and Adaniand presumed farmers and Jats voters would be impressed, the mandate shows his rhetoric - almost semi-communists style - did not go down well with the non-Jats, business community and upwardly mobile middle class. 

As Congress focused on Jats, the BJP banked on its traditional strength in Haryana - the consolidation of non-Jat votes. This worked as a miracle. 

In 2014, when BJP came to power in the state it assembly strength jumped from four to 47 seats. The party knew how to work smartly. Narendra Modi ensured that his confidant and a longtime RSS and BJP leader in Haryana Manohar Lal Khattar, a Punjabi Khatri, was appointed as Chief Minister. 

The party also expanded the OBC vote base, which makes up about 40 per cent of the population. In March 2024 when Khattar was to be replaced, it found an OBC alternative Nayab Singh Saini. 

"Saini’s candidacy as CM was confirmed early, ensuring the party garnered OBC support in a state where the Chief Minister has often been from the upper-caste Jat community, which forms 25 per cent of the population. The BJP cemented its win by wooing the 75 per cent non-Jat voters," says a piece in 'Indian Express'.  

The timing of the poll in Haryana together with Jammu and Kashmir also gave a positive signals to the nationalism spirit as Haryana sends good number of soldiers and officers to the army and other forces. 

The BJP also managed to get Scheduled Caste (SC) votes particularly through women’s self-help groups in villages. 

The ‘Lakhpati Drone Didis’, often from Dalit families, became symbols of this outreach. Prime Minister Narendra Modi even personally invited many of them. 

This sentiment resonated among the youth as well, as reflected in the words of an ITI student in Ambala who remarked, “Modi ji will elevate SCs to the general category.”

The Congress and AAP fought separately in the assembly polls. The battlefield was further crowded by the Indian National Lok Dal, which allied with the Bahujan Samaj Party, and the JJP, which teamed up with the Azad Samaj Party. Numerous independent candidates also entered the fray. 

This split the anti-BJP vote, contributing to Congress’s defeat in several constituencies.  

Modi's 3Ds also worked effectively.

- Development, DBTs, and Discipline

The BJP started its campaign much before the Congress could get its act together. 

The “Modi ki Guarantee” vans started touring villages. These vans highlighted government schemes and allowed villagers to rectify issues in their Parivar Pehchan Patras. 

The party also emphasised its success with Direct Benefit Transfers (DBTs), claiming to be number one in the country in ensuring that benefits went directly into beneficiaries’ accounts.

 BJP leaders said that the party’s core group ensured that the concerns of “almost every leader who matters on the ground” were taken care of. “The interests and demands of most of the senior leaders were accommodated. The concerns of all those unhappy leaders which were seen as the reason for the party’s less than expected performance in the Lok Sabha elections were taken seriously,” said a party source.

The BJP had come down to five this time from all 10 seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, and the results were followed by a spate of resignations and open rebellion by some leaders.

The BJP core team for Haryana included Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan, the Haryana election in-charge; Biplab Kumar Deb, co-in charge; Satish Poonia, BJP state in charge; CM Sahni; former CM Manohar Lal Khattar; Haryana party chief Mohan Lal Badoli; and Haryana BJP organisation in-charge Faninder Nath Mishra.

The party source said that the group had the backing of the top leadership. “These leaders decided the candidates but the final call was taken by Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP president J P Nadda.”

Haryana made history by giving a third consecutive term to the BJP in the state, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at the BJP headquarters.

His 'victory speech' was accompanied by a vitriolic attack on the Congress, which he called, among other things, a "parasitic party" that wins only when powered by its alliance partner. 

"In J&K, its ally was saying they would face defeat because of the Congress. In Lok Sabha as well, they won most of the seats because of their alliance partners. In some states, many alliance partners suffered because of Congress. They swallow them and destroy them in the state," PM Modi said.

"Haryana was formed in 1966... 13 elections took place in Haryana, till now and in 10 polls, people have changed the government," he said.  

"After five years and in the last three elections, it has not happened. It is the first time that a government has managed to get two terms and win a third one. The people of Haryana not only made us win but gave us more seats and more vote share. They wholeheartedly voted for us," he added.