Manohar Lal Khattar wins his constituency but is hanging on to Haryana by a thread

• Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar is gunning for a second term.
• Khattar won from the Karnal constituency by a margin of 45188 votes.
• He won the 2014 election with a majority of 63,736 votes.

Haryana’s Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar is waiting for his second term as BJP is aiming for a majority in the state assembly.

Khattar won from the Karnal constituency by a margin of 45188 votes.

Khattar was up against Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) candidate Tej Bahadur Yadav. The poll of exit polls projected a win for BJP with a massive majority of 63 out of the 90 seats. However, there was only one poll, by India Today-Axis, which showed a neck-to-neck fight between the two coalitions- one led by the BJP and the other led by Congress.

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On the voting day too, Khattar seemed confident of victory as took a train from Chandigarh, followed by an autorickshaw to his home, and then rode a bicycle to the polling station in Karnal.

“People of Karnal showered me with their blessings in the last elections. I am hopeful that this time too, they will ensure my victory with a thumping margin — more than the one recorded in 2014,” Khattar had told media.

The man who led BJP’s victory in 2014

Khattar rode along with the BJP wave in 2014, as Narendra Modi came to power.

In 2014, Khattar had become the first BJP Chief Minister; the party had taken a bold step betting on a Punjabi candidate in a state that is dominated by the Jat community.

He won the 2014 state assembly election with a majority of 63,736 votes. He defeated the previously successful independent candidate from Karnal, Jaiprakash Gupta.

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From RSS to BJP, Khattar’s journey in politics

Born in Rohtak, Khattar is not a new name in politics. He was just 24 when he joined RSS in 1977. Having worked for 14 years, he joined the BJP and went on to become the Organizational General Secretary of the state.

As a strategist with both the RSS and the BJP, Khattar remained in the shadows until he was thrown into the spotlight in 2014 when he was chosen as the BJP's candidate for the CM elections.

Controversies surrounding Khattar

Khattar’s five-year term in the state has also been marred with multiple controversies with the biggest one being the Jat agitation in February 2016. The Jat agitation saw violent protests and unrests in the state as the community asked for inclusion in the Other Backward Class, so as to get the affirmative action benefits.

He was also in news right after Article 370 was scrapped for his comments on Kashmiri girls.

However, all that can held against Khattar pales in front of the poor perception of the opposition. The BJP has ensured that the corruption charges on Robert Vadra, the kin of the Congress chairperson Sonia Gandhi, and the Chautala family that ruled the state earlier remain etched in public memory as they cast their vote.

For his next 5 year term, Khattar has promised water for every household in Haryana.

See Also:
The final result of Haryana state election 2019
Haryana State Election result and Winner list