"Haryana Not BJP Win, It Is Congress' Defeat": AAP's Raghav Chadha To NDTV

The BJP, beating pollsters' predictions and a huge anti-incumbency, won 48 seats in the 90-member house. Its rival, the Congress, which was expected to sweep the state, won 37 seats.

Refusing to concede that the Haryana victory, a record third consecutive one, will burnish BJP's credentials as a dominant political force in the country, AAP's Raghav Chadha pointed to ruling party's 39% vote share. 61% vote was against the ruling party, said Mr Chaddha, adding that the election was more of a Congress defeat that the BJP win.

"I would have agreed had the BJP secured more than 50% of the total votes polled. That is not the case. Vote in Haryana is not for the BJP. The vote in Haryana is against the BJP. 39% is what the BJP polled and 61% is the vote against the BJP. The idea was to unite the vote against the BJP. So, I feel that people of Haryana overwhelmingly voted for change and for a different regime in the state. It is not a victory of the BJP, it is a defeat of the Congress," Mr Chadha, a Rajya Sabha MP, told NDTV.

The BJP, beating pollsters' predictions and a huge anti-incumbency, won 48 seats in the 90-member house. Its rival, the Congress, which was expected to sweep the state, won 37 seats.