Maharashtra and Haryana Assembly Polls: The aftermath and key takeaways 

A conversation with Mrinal Pande about the surprise results thrown up in the recent Assembly polls and its key takeaways for the BJP, the Opposition and the Indian media

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Rahul Gul

Highlights of Mrinal Pande’s analysis of the Assembly poll results:

1. The mainstream media did not heed the mood at the grassroots level, and thus kept predicting a landslide victory for BJP, which didn’t turn out to be the case at all.

2. Mass leaders like two-time former Chief Minister of Haryana Bhupinder Singh Hooda read the tea leaves well, predicting a good show by Opposition parties.

3. Dushyant Chautala’s poll pitch was anti-BJP but he decided to go with the party in return for the Deputy CM’s post due to his own political compulsions. Interestingly, his father Ajay Chautala, incarcerated in Tihar jail along with his father OP Chautala after being convicted in a recruitment scam, was released on furlough just after he took this decision.

4. The BJP’s initial overtures towards independent MLA Gopal Kanda, accused of harassing an airhostess employed by him as well as her mother to the point of suicide, did not go well with the women of the country.

5. Despite making some noises to the contrary, the Shiv Sena was likely to join ally BJP in forming the government in Maharashtra.

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Published: 31 Oct 2019, 6:53 PM