Haryana's Dangal

The BJP has won, but the Congress has not lost. It will form a formidable Opposition in the state assembly

- Ashwani Sharma

WHO would have thought the humble jalebi, the commonest sweet in most of north India, could twist the Congress in so many knots in Haryana? It was a Bihar assembly polls 2015 moment for the TV anchors too, when the first two hours on the morning of October 8, they were 'punditing' a certain narrative, and the next two hours explaining exactly the opposite. No Joseph Heller book could match this live satire.

The Congress offices in most Haryana towns were decked up, flowers and boxes of sweets were in place, firecrackers had been bought, some even burst on the eve of the election results. After all, the exit polls gave the Congress a clear majority.

Senior leader Rahul Gandhi was pleased, Congress' Haryana supremo Bhupinder Singh Hooda was smug in his comments and all analysts were writing reams about how after the not-so-thumping Lok Sabha results, the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) was in for another setback.

But the jalebi was hiding many more layers-of hubris among the leadership in the Congress, of factionalism in the party, of the incredible talent of the new, untested BJP Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini to stage a quite coup. (The whole jalebi reference comes from Gandhi's rally in Gohana, where he said the famous local 'Mathuram ki jalebi' was so good it could be exported and could be a way of employment for the youth. Enough to make the internet go berserk with memes).

Saini, 45, who has been chief minister for just 200 days, helped the BJP make history-the third consecutive win for a state, which has only had alternate governments. "It is a decisive victory that has exceeded all exit poll forecasts. For the first time since 1966-when the state was formed-an incumbent government has been elected after serving two consecutive terms. This result demonstrates the consolidation of BJP support across all castes, not just the Jat-dominated areas," says former Himachal Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur.