New Delhi:

In response to Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia’s decision to join Congress, Haryana BJP president Mohan Lal Badoli said that players are the pride of our country and that the party does not do politics on them.

“Players are the pride of our country, we don’t do politics on them. They will work as a member of Congress after joining,” the Haryana BJP president told the news agency ANI on Friday.

#WATCH | Delhi: Haryana BJP president Mohan Lal Badoli said, “…We will announce the next list for the Haryana Assembly elections soon…”

On Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia joining Congress, Haryana BJP president Mohan Lal Badoli said, “Players are the pride of our country, we… pic.twitter.com/wOoBvYN5I7

— ANI (@ANI) September 6, 2024

In a big boost ahead of the Haryana Assembly elections, Olympian wrestlers Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat joined the Congress on Friday.

Within hours of his joining the party, Bajrang Punia was appointed working president of the All India Kisan Congress, while Vinesh Phogat was announced as a candidate from the Julana Assembly constituency.

Mr Punia and Ms Phogat joined the Congress in the presence of Congress general secretary KC Venugopal, party leader Pawan Khera, Udai Bhan, and AICC incharge of Haryana Deepak Babaria.

Vinesh Phogat recalled women wrestlers’ fight over sexual harassment allegations against former BJP MP and former WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. “The fight is continuing, it hasn’t ended yet. It’s in court. We will win that fight as well… With the new platform that we are getting today, we will work for the service of the nation,” she said.

The two well-known wrestlers joined the Congress almost a month before the Haryana assembly polls.

Mr Punia won bronze at the Tokyo Olympics, while Vinesh Phogat became the first woman wrestler to reach the Olympics final.

Ms Phogat announced her retirement from wrestling a short while after she was disqualified from the Paris Olympic Games after being found overweight by about 100 gm in her 50-kg category weigh-in ahead of the gold medal match.

Voting for the 90-member legislative assembly in Haryana will be held on October 5, with the last date for filing nominations being September 12. Votes will be counted on October 8.

Chandigarh:

 With 2.03 crore voters, Haryana Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Pankaj Agarwal has said as per the schedule for the Haryana legislative Assembly polls the nomination papers can be filed until September 12 with their scrutiny next day.

The candidates can withdraw their nominations until September 16 with voting on October 1. The vote count will be on October 4.

Mr Agarwal said that the final voter list will be published on August 27. If the names of young individuals who turned 18 by July 1 are not on the voter list, they should contact their respective Booth Level Officer (BLO) and complete the form to get their vote registered.

He said 2,03,27,631 voters will be able to exercise their right to vote. Out of these, 1,08,19,021 are men, 95,08,155 are women, and 455 are third-gender voters. There are 482,896 young voters in the 18 to 19 age group. Similarly, there are 149,387 voters with disabilities and 242,818 voters who are over 85 years old.

Also, there are 9,554 voters who are over 100 years old. The 20 to 29 age group includes 41,52,806 voters.

Mr Agarwal said there will be 20,629 polling booths in the state, of which 7,132 will be in urban areas and 13,497 in rural areas. These polling booths have been set up at 10,495 locations across the state.

He said that Haryana has 90 Assembly constituencies, out of which 17 are reserved constituencies. Furthermore, candidates can spend up to Rs 40 lakh on their election campaign. They must provide details of a separate bank account to the District Election Officer for this purpose.

He said the candidates can use the Suvidha App to get approvals for election rallies, roadshows, helipads, etc. The voters can use the KYC App to get information about the background of the candidates and a special app Saksham has been developed to assist voters with disabilities.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)