New Delhi, Oct 8 (IANS): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday thanked the people of Haryana after the BJP emerged victorious in the northern state for the third consecutive time, saying the people have voted his party to power for the third time in a row on the basis of development and good governance.

In the 90-member Assembly, the BJP bagged 48 seats -- two more over the required number of 46 -- while the principal opposition Congress got 37 seats, as per the latest data available from the Election Commission of India.

In his address at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) headquarters here after the announcement of the Assembly poll results in Haryana and Jammu & Kashmir, PM Modi also applauded the outcome of the election results in the Union Territory, describing the peaceful conduct of polling as "the victory for the country's Constitution and democracy".

In Jammu and Kashmir, the National Conference-led alliance, which includes the Congress and the CPI-M. got 49 seats. The BJP also put up a decent show in the Union Territory by bagging 29 seats.

"On such an auspicious day (the sixth day of Navratri), Lotus (BJP's election symbol) has bloomed for the third consecutive time in Haryana. Truth has triumphed in the land of Gita. Development won in the land of Gita. Good governance won in the land of Gita. People from every caste, every class have voted for us," PM Modi said.

Also referring to the Jammu and Kashmir polls, the Prime Minister said: "After decades of wait, finally peaceful elections were held in Jammu and Kashmir, votes were counted and results were declared. This is a victory for the Constitution of India, a victory for the democracy of India.

"The people of Jammu and Kashmir have given more votes to the National Conference and their allies, and I congratulate them on that. However, based on vote share, the BJP has emerged as the biggest party in Jammu and Kashmir. I congratulate all the candidates who won in Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir"

About Haryana, where the BJP registered a hat-trick of victories by proving most of the Exit Poll results incorrect, PM Modi said: "Today, in Haryana, the guarantee of development has outweighed the potion of lies. The people of Haryana have created a new history. So far, 13 elections have been held in Haryana. In 10 of these elections, the people of Haryana changed the government every 5 years. But what the people of Haryana have done this time is unprecedented. This is the first time that a government which has completed two terms of 5 years each has got a chance again in Haryana."

Thanking the BJP workers, he said: "The victory in Haryana is the result of the immense hard work of the party workers. The Haryana win is the victory of the efforts of (party national President) J.P. Nadda and the Haryana (BJP) team. This triumph is also the win of the duties carried out by our humble Chief Minister (Nayab Singh Saini)."

Asserting that the BJP has its presence in most of the people's hearts, PM Modi said that it is not just only the biggest party in the world.

"In Haryana, the people gave a hat-trick to the BJP on the issue of development. BJP has given freedom from the misrule of Congress, hence the people of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh have been blessing it for more than two decades," he said.

Slamming the Congress which submitted its reservations to the results in Haryana, PM Modi said: "People in most states of the country have put up a 'No Entry' board for the Congress. Earlier, the Congress used to think that whether it delivered (through its work) or not, people would still vote for it. But today, the party has been exposed. The Congress considers power as its birthright. The party's condition becomes similar to that of a fish living outside water if it is not in power... that is why, after coming to power, it does not hesitate to put the country and society at stake.

"Today, the entire country is witnessing how the Congress has started spreading poison in the name of caste in our society. Those who were born with a silver spoon in their mouths want to make the poor fight in the name of caste. The Dalits, the backward, and tribal communities should not forget that it is the Congress which has oppressed them the most. It is the Congress that deprived them of food, water and shelter for so many decades," PM Modi said during his scathing attack on the Congress.