ElECTioN// The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) created history in Haryana by securing a clear majority on its own for the first time and finished as the singlelargest party in a hung house in Maharashtra, leaving former ally and runner up Shiv Sena high and dry.

Manohar Lal Khattar, a 60-year-old RSS man and first-time legislator, was sworn in as Haryana's new chief minister on October 26 in Panchkula. Khattar is Haryana's first non-Jat chief minister in 18 years; Jats have for long dominated politics in the state as the single biggest chunk of voters. Along with Khattar, nine ministers – six holding Cabinet ranks – and three ministers of state with independent charge were also sworn in.

The event was attended by high-profile politicians such as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, some Cabinet colleagues, chief ministers of BJP-ruled states and RSS leaders.

In Maharashtra, the BJP’s gamble of breaking from the Shiv Sena to contest the Maharashtra Assembly elections solely on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s charisma produced a bumper harvest of 122 seats — a near trebling of its 2009 tally, and only 22 seats short of the halfway mark. Soon after, the NCP that won 41 seats dramatically announced its “unconditional support” for the BJP.

The Congress emerged as the third-largest party in the House, winning 42 seats. Raj Thackeray was the other big loser, his MNS winning just one seat. The BJP’s Maharashtra unit president Devendra Fdnavis and Union Transport Minister are the BJP’s possible candidates for the chief minister’s post. The Shiv Sena has announced that it is ready to support whoever the party picks as the next CM for Maharashtra.