Chunav Flashback: The Election Commission (EC) on Friday (August 16) announced that elections to the 90-member Haryana Assembly will be held on October 1 (Tuesday) and the results would be declared on October 4 (Friday). With the announcement of polls, the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) has come into force in the state.
Haryana was carved out as a separate state from the unified Punjab on November 1, 1966. The total Assembly strength in Haryana is 90 seats and the majority mark is 46.
Triangular contest in 1996 Haryana polls
If we recall the 1996 polls, there was a keen triangular contest for power in Haryana. Bansi Lal's Haryana Vikas Party (HVP) forged an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Bhajan Lal's ruling Congress, and the Devi Lal-Om Prakash Chautala-led Samata Party, all of whom claimed that they would form the next government.At that time, Bansi Lal was a prominent Jat leader in Haryana.
What was the main agenda of 1996 Haryana Assembly polls?
The Samata Party and the HVP-BJP alliance made corruption their main issue in the 1996 polls.
What happened in 1996 Haryana Assembly elections?
In the 1996 polls, Bansi Lal's Haryana Vikas Party (HVP) contested 65 seats and won 33, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secured 11 seats while fielding contestants on 25 seats. The HVP managed to get 22.66 per cent of the vote, while the BJP received 8.88 per cent of the votes. On the other side, the Om Prakash Chautala-led Samata Party won 24 seats with a vote share of 20.56 per cent. The Congress won just nine seats with a vote share of 20.82 per cent and was decimated.
1996 Lok Sabha polls in Haryana
In the same year, the Lok Sabha Elections were also held, in which the BJP got four seats and the Haryana Vikas Party secured three seats in the general election battle.
1996 polls statistics before result declaration
Before the election results in Haryana, it was assumed that Bhajan Lal's alienation of the Jats during his last tenure could prove costly for the Congress. A large part of these votes swung to the Congress in 1991 as a result of the anti-Devi Lal-Chautala wave that swept the state. In the 1991 Haryana polls, the Congress won 51 seats with a vote share of 33.73 per cent. The Janata Party (JP), HVP, and BJP won 16, 12, and 2 seats, respectively.
