New Delhi:

The Aam Aadmi Party late Tuesday released its third list of 11 candidates for the Haryana assembly polls.

Earlier in the day, the party released its second list of nine candidates. The name of Haryana AAP president Sushil Gupta was missing from both lists.

The AAP’s first list of 20 candidates was released on Monday as seat-sharing talks with the Congress broke down.

The party has so far declared its candidates on 40 of the 90-member Haryana Assembly.

In its third list, the AAP fielded Pravin Guskhani against former Haryana chief minister and Congress veteran Bhupinder Singh Hooda from Garhi Sampla-Kiloi constituency.

The others include Bheem Singh Rathi from Radaur, Amar Singh from Nilokheri, Amit Kumar from Israna, Mahender Dahiya from Jhajjar, Satish Yadav from Rewari, and Col (retd) Rajendra Rawat from Hathin.

The last date for filing nomination papers is September 12. The 90-member assembly is scheduled to go to polls on October 5.

The Congress and the AAP fought the Lok Sabha polls together in Delhi while they had contested separately in Punjab.

In the LS general election, the Congress had given one seat to the AAP in Haryana, which it had contested unsuccessfully.

In the 2019 Haryana polls, the AAP had contested 46 seats but failed to win a single seat.

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

New Delhi:

The Congress on Sunday released a list of nine candidates for the Haryana Assembly polls, fielding Brijendra Singh from Uchana Kalan and Mohit Grover from Gurugram.

With this list, the Congress has declared a total of 41 candidates for polls to the 90-member assembly.

Besides Brijendra Singh and Grover, the Congress fielded Ashok Arora from Thanesar, Kuldeep Sharma from Ganaur, Paramvir Singh from Tohana, Anirudh Chaudhary from Tosham, Balram Dangi from Meham, Manju Choudhary from Nangal Chaudhary and Vardhan Yadav from Badshahpur.

The Congress on Friday declared 32 candidates for the polls, fielding former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda from Garhi Sampla-Kiloi, state unit chief Udai Bhan from Hodal and wrestler Vinesh Phogat from Julana.

The party had first released a list of 31 candidates and a little later, in a statement, said the CEC had approved the candidature of Balbir Singh from the Israna (reserved for the Scheduled Castes) constituency.

Balbir Singh is the incumbent MLA from Israna.

The grand old party has renominated all its 28 MLAs.

Besides Hooda, Bhan and Phogat, the Congress has also fielded Mewa Singh from Ladwa to take on Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini.

The Congress is also engaged in seat-sharing talks with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for the Haryana polls, with hard bargaining going on from both sides.

Some Congress leaders have expressed reservations over a tie-up with the Arvind Kejriwal-led party.

The 90-member Haryana Assembly is scheduled to go to polls on October 5 and the counting of votes will be undertaken on October 8. 

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

New Delhi:

In a major development, Olympian wrestler Bajrang Punia was appointed the Working Chairman of the All India Kisan Congress on Friday.

“Hon’ble Congress President has approved the proposal of the appointment of Shri Bajrang Punia as the Working Chairman of All India Kisan Congress with immediate effect,” read the official letter issued by Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal.

Thanking Congress President Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, and K.C. Venugopal for the new role assigned to him, the Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist said in a post on X: “I would like to thank our President Mr. @kharge, Leader of the Opposition @RahulGandhi, and @kcvenugopalmp for entrusting me with this significant responsibility. I will strive to stand shoulder to shoulder with farmers facing crises, supporting their struggles, and work as a dedicated soldier of the organisation. Jai Kisan.”

The appointment, which followed Punia and his fellow wrestler Vinesh Phogat joining the Congress on Friday afternoon, is being seen as a significant move in light of the upcoming Assembly elections in Haryana scheduled on October 5.

The grappler duo met Congress President Kharge at his residence on Friday afternoon before formally joining the party at its headquarters in Delhi.

“Chak de India, Chak de Haryana! Met our talented champions Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia, who have made India proud in the world, at 10, Rajaji Marg. We are proud of both of you,” Kharge posted on X after the meeting.

Both the Olympians, who were prominent faces of last year’s protests against alleged sexual assault and intimidation of female wrestlers by ex-Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, had met Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, on Wednesday.

Speaking at the party office after joining the Congress, Phogat said it is only when times are bad that people know who is really standing with them.

Punia said the Congress backed the wrestlers during their protest without even being asked to do so, while the BJP MPs ignored the letters seeking their support.

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