Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda resigns after Congress gets drubbed

With Assembly poll results going strongly against his party, Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Sunday resigned from the post of Chief Minister of Haryana.

"Hooda submitted his resignation personally to Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki," a Raj Bhawan spokesman said in Chandigarh. Before proceeding to tender his resignation, Hooda met senior officers in the secretariat and thanked them for their cooperation during his long stint as chief minister.

67-year-old Hooda became the Chief Minister for the first time in 2005 when Congress bagged 67 of the 90 seats. The figure fell to 40 in the 2009 elections. Even as he trumpeted his government's development initiatives ahead of the polls, corruption charges against his government turned the tide against him coupled with anti-incumbency factor.

From a nonentity, BJP created a history in Haryana this time by attaining simple majority on its own riding on the Modi wave.

BJP got 47 seats, Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) 19, its ally Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) one, Congress 15, Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) two, BSP one and five Independents.

Congress campaign in Haryana was largely handled by Hooda his MP son Deepender Hooda and state party chief Ashok Tanwar, besides Congress heavyweights Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul.