Haryana Chief Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Nayab Singh Saini won the Ladwa Assembly constituency on Tuesday, according to data from the Election Commission.
Saini defeated Congress candidate Mewa Singh by a margin of 16,054 votes.
Follow Scroll’s coverage of the 2024 Haryana Assembly election result here
In the Ambala Cantonment constituency, BJP leader and the state’s former home minister Anil Vij, after briefly trailing behind Independent candidate Chitra Sarwara, won with a margin of 7,277 votes as per data from the Election Commission.
Sarwara was suspended from the Congress on September 30 for “anti-party activities”.
The Congress’ Parvinder Pal Pari was placed third in the constituency with a total of 14,469 votes.
On September 15, Vij said that he would stake claim to the chief minister’s post if the party retained power in the polls.
Vij had stated that he was the senior-most MLA of the BJP in Haryana.
“I have contested elections for six times,” he had said. “On the demand of people, I will claim for the designation of chief minister on the basis of my seniority this time.”
However, soon after Vij’s comment, Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan, the BJP’s election coordinator in Haryana, said that Saini was the party’s chief ministerial candidate.
Vij has represented the Ambala Cantonment seat six times.
The Legislative Assembly in Haryana has 90 members and 46 seats are required for a majority.
The Assembly polls in Haryana took place in a single phase on Saturday. A turnout of 67.9% was recorded.
Most exit polls had projected the Congress to win a clear majority.
Also read: Organised chaos: Why BJP is encouraging multiple chief minister claimants in Haryana
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