Dushyant Chautala ‘Kingmaker’ in Haryana? Unlikely – Here’s Why

Haryana results have led to speculations that JJP may hold the key to success in the state. But, this is unlikely.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

Video editor: Vishal Sharma

Haryana Assembly elections 2019 have shocked almost all political pundits. Apart from one exit poll, almost all the post-poll surveys got their projections wrong. In fact, the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) itself had given the slogan of ‘Ab ki bar, 75 par’ (this time, we will win over 75 seats). However, the saffron party couldn’t even get to the majority mark of 46.

Now, a hung assembly has led to speculations that Dushyant Chautala’s Jannayak Janta Party may hold the proverbial key to success in Haryana. But, this is not true. Why? Well we will come to that a little later. First, let’s take a look at four reasons why a state where BJP was slated to enjoy a three-fourth majority ended up with a hung Assembly.

1. The mandate is against the BJP government because of their attitude.

2. The Jats, almost unanimously, voted against the BJP.

3. Even celebrity candidates could not do much for the saffron party.

4. Bagad belt, which includes constituencies of Hisar, Sirsa and Fatehabad did not show any support for the BJP.

Now, let’s come back to the question of why Dushyant Chautala may not be the ‘kingmaker’ as many claim that he could be. The reason being the victory of 7 Independent candidates. The majority mark in Haryana Assembly is 46. Now that the BJP has won 40 seats, they can form a coalition with Independents and form the government, leaving the JJP out of the picture.

Even if Chautala decides to join hands with the Congress, the coalition will fall short of the majority mark without the support of the Independents.

With a strong BJP-led government at the Centre, it’s very unlikely that Amit Shah will let go of an opportunity to form the government. There is also a possibility that Dushyant Chautala might align himself with the BJP but in such a scenario, he may not have bargaining power.

In any case, voters have proved, election after election, that no matter what kind of propaganda a party tries to posit, they vote only after considering what is in their best interest.