India's BJP set to win Haryana vote in boost for Modi, Congress rejects outcome

FILE PHOTO: A booth-level officer helps a woman verify her name in the voting list outside a polling station during the state assembly elections, in Karnal, in the northern state of Haryana, India, October 5, 2024. REUTERS/Bhawika Chhabra/File Photo

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) headed for a surprise election victory in Haryana state on Tuesday, reinforcing its popularity in the northern heartland a few months after stumbling in national elections.

But the main opposition Congress party, which had been projected by exit polls to win Haryana, said it would not accept the result as it was "totally unexpected, completely surprising and counter-intuitive".