In the first Assembly elections after the BJP's triumph in the Lok Sabha polls in May, the saffron party's electoral juggernaut met with some resistance in Maharashtra and Haryana with a resurgent Congress putting up a good showing in the northern state. With the Congress managing to give the Bharatiya Janata Party a scare in Haryana and winning around the same number seats as it did in 2014 in Maharashtra, these election results will come as a booster shot for the party. Whereas the BJP anticipated the results would be different, but it’s more of an outcome of overconfidence which is worrisome.

Haryana

BJP leader Manohar Lal Khattar took the oath of office as Haryana Chief Minister for the second consecutive term. Khattar has begun his 'second innings' in a coalition government with the JJP. Prime Minister Narendra Modi handpicked Manohar Lal Khattar as Haryana's chief minister in 2014, the decision took many by surprise. But even as a first-time MLA, he was asked to head the first Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and literally proved himself the Khiladi of politics.