The biggest issue the fractured mandate had posed was political stability. It was earlier expected that the Congress would get an absolute majority. Questions were also being raised about the post-poll future of the Indian National Lok Dal and the Haryana Janhit Congress in view of the perceived poor performance of the two parties. But the electorate belied expectations at least about the INLD.

The failure of the Congress to get an absolute majority and its winning only 40 of the 90 seats came as a surprise. Equally surprising was INLD's resurgence. It secured 31 seats against its nine in 2005. Notwithstanding the loud claims of the over-ambitious but yet politically juvenile HJC (BL) chief Kuldeep Bishnoi, the infant party came as a poor third winning only six seats.

Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda first succeeded in forming his ministry by alluring all the seven Independents by giving them ministerial and Parliamentary Secretaries offices. But in this era of fragile political loyalties when pursuit of power and money has become the sole objective of our elected representatives, the support of the seven Independents alone cannot guarantee political stability. The ruling party cultivated the HJC's MLAs succeeding in winning five of its six MLAs. Besides the greener pastures that awaited them in the ruling party, the HJC members were disillusioned with Bishnoi's style of working. They joined the Congress giving it an absolute majority. Now the five are waiting in the wings to get rewarded with lucrative offices.

Questions can be asked about the political morality of all such actions. But who cares for political norms these days particularly when the Anti-Defection Law also conditionally allows such floor crossings which are taking place in all the states. This is particularly so in the case of Haryana, which ushered in Aya Ram Gaya Ram politics 40 years ago. This time, however, it is only the Aya Rams for the Congress with Gaya Rams remaining elusive so far. As the Congress was widely perceived to again form the government, several important leaders of all the mainstream opposition parties had deserted their parent parties to join the Congress before the elections. After the poll, it is the Independents and HJC MLAs who finding that the non-Congress parties may not be able to muster enough strength to form their government jumped to the ruling party's bandwagon.

The INLD owes its unexpected emergence as a formidable opposition mainly due to its success in regaining part of its Jat support base. According to sources close to Akali Dal, the INLD leadership was in a state of total demoralization before the polls and expected a rout. Its supremo Om Parkash Chautala was also said to be in extremely low spirits. It was his family and business friend Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal who boosted his morale and goaded him to fight with courage. Besides the intensive mass contact campaign, a massive costly ad campaign in the media was also launched. The two-pronged attempt created an atmosphere which also helped the party emerge as a formidable opposition.

The main task for the INLD leadership will now be how to further expand its base by exploiting the anti-incumbency that might build up during the second term of the Congress ministry. Om Parkash Chautala will also have to convince the people that he has changed his old style of arrogant functioning. He had become amiable after toppling Bansi Lal in 1999 with the help of the latter's Haryana Vikas Party defectors and the BJP. But this attitude again changed after his own party secured majority in the 2000 mid-term poll. It was his arrogance and vindictive attitude which mainly contributed to his party's humiliating defeat in 2004 Lok Sabha and 2005 Assembly elections.

After its below-par performance and the subsequent desertions by its five MLAs leaving Kuldeep Bishnoi as the lone standard bearer of its legislative wing, the HJC faces the crucial question of survival. Those who once taste power rarely quit politics. Like chameleons they can change their political colour. But the political parties can become extinct because of the follies they commit. With Bhajan Lal in poor health, it remains to be seen whether Bishnoi will be able to save his party from extinction, which way will he go politically.

Politics is said to be the art of the possible. But its practitioners often make it a game of opportunism. Who plays this game more efficiently in Haryana in the coming five years will be watched keenly.

Though the Congress leadership has succeeded in forming the government, its task during the ruling party's second term will be more arduous. The party will have to ensure that it avoids committing mistakes which deprived it of an absolute majority. A section of Chief Minister Hooda's admirers both in the state as also in New Delhi were said to have developed a feeling that during the last phase of his term his style of functioning known for his trademark amiability and humbleness had undergone a change which enabled his party detractors to come together and turned admirers into critics. After the ministry formation there are welcome signs of his reverting to his old amiable style and displaying his known passion for development. A pragmatic leader has to remember that sycophants are time servers while unbiased critics are his real well-wishers as they forewarn him about his functional shortcomings which often become the cause of his problems. (IPA Service)