New Delhi:

The Congress late Wednesday night released a list of five candidates for the Haryana Assembly elections. Earlier in the day, the party announced its candidates for 40 seats.

The party has named former Haryana Youth Congress chief Sachin Kundu as its candidate for the Panipat Rural seat, and state youth wing’s spokesperson Rohit Nagar as its candidate for Tigaon.

Besides them, the Congress named Parimal Pari for the Ambala Cantt seat, Satbir Dublain for the Narwana-SC reserved seat, and Sarva Mitra Kamboj for Rania.

This was Congress’ fourth list for Haryana and so far, it has declared the names of 85 candidates for elections to the 90-member Assembly.

In the third list released earlier in the day, Congress Rajya Sabha MP Randeep Surjewala’s son Aditya was named as the party candidate for the Kaithal seat.

Other candidates named in the third list include Chander Mohan for Panchkula, Ch. Nirmal Singh (Ambala City), Akram Khan (Jagadhri), Raman Tyagi (Yamunanagar), Mandeep Singh Chatha (Pehowa), Vikas Saharan (Kalayat), Sultan Singh Jadola (Pundri), Rakesh Kumar Kamboj (Indri), Sumita Virk (Karnal), Virender Singh Rathore (Gharaunda), Varinder Kumar Shah (Panipat City), Jai Bhagwan Antil (Rai), Mahabir Gupta (Jind), Balwan Singh Daulatpuria (Fatehabad), Jarnail Singh (Ratia), Gokul Setia (Sirsa), Bharat Singh Beniwal (Ellenabad), Chander Parkash (Adampur), Rahul Makkar (Hansi), Ram Niwas Ghorela (Barwala), and Ram Niwas Rara (Hisar).

The party has named Anil Mann for Nalwa seat, Rajbir Singh Fartiya for Loharu, Sombir Singh (Badhra), Manisha Sangwan (Dadri), Anita Yadav (Ateli), Rao Narinder Singh (Narnaul), Jagdish Yadav (Kosli), Mohd Israil (Hathin), Karan Dalal (Palwal), Raghubir Tewatia (Prithla), Vijay Pratap (Badhkal), Parag Sharma (Ballabgarh), and Lakhan Kumar Singla (Faridabad).

Congress candidates named in the third list, who are contesting elections from seats reserved for Scheduled Castes, are Pradeep Narwal from Bawani Khera, M.L. Ranga (Bawal-SC), Pearl Chaudhary (Pataudi-SC), Pooja Chaudhary (Mulana-SC), and Devinder Hans (Guhla-SC).

The last date for filing nomination papers is September 12. Voting for single-phase Assembly elections will be held on October 5 while the counting will be taken up 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:

The BJP today released its second list of candidates for Haryana Assembly elections, adding 21 more names. So far, the party has declared 87 candidates for the 90-member assembly. The BJP has pitted Captain Yogesh Bairagi against Olympian Vinesh Phogat who is set to contest the polls on a Congress ticket from Julana. 

In the first list of 67 candidates, the party fielded Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini from Karnal to the Ladwa seat. Mr Saini served as the MP from Kurukshetra between 2019 and 2024. Prominent leaders like former state BJP president Om Prakash Dhankar, who now holds a national secretary role in the party, have been fielded from the Badli constituency. Another key figure, Anil Vij, the veteran party leader and former state minister, is set to contest from his traditional stronghold of Ambala Cantt.

Several political heavyweights who have recently switched allegiance to the BJP have been rewarded with tickets. Devender Singh Babli, formerly of the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP), will now contest from Tohana, while Shruti Choudhry, a recent entrant and the granddaughter of former Haryana Chief Minister Bansi Lal, is set to run from Tosham. Similarly, Rao Inderjit Singh’s daughter, Aarti Singh Rao, has been given the Ateli seat, along with several other loyalists of the Union Minister, further cementing the party’s presence in south Haryana.

With the assembly polls scheduled for October 5, the BJP is aiming for a third consecutive victory in the state. However, the ruling party faces stiff competition from a resurgent Congress. The counting of votes is scheduled for October 8.

Chandigarh:

The rebellion in the Haryana BJP sparked by leaders being denied tickets for the upcoming elections intensified on Saturday with a former minister joining the ranks of those who have quit the party.

Former Haryana minister Bachan Singh Arya was hoping for a ticket from the Safidon Assembly constituency but the BJP decided to field Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) rebel Ram Kumar Gautam, who had joined the party earlier this month. The JJP was a BJP ally until Nayab Singh Saini replaced Manohar Lal Khattar as the Haryana chief minister in March this year. 

The BJP had released its first list of 67 candidates on Wednesday and Mr Arya, who had lost from the Safidon Assembly constituency by a margin of about 3,500 votes in 2019, had posted a couplet on social media the next day, in which he spoke of injustice and hinted at a rebellion

“Laga do aag pani mein, shararat ho to aisi ho. Mita do hasti julmo ki, bagawat ho to aise ho. (Set fire to water, if there is mischief, let it be like this. Erase the existence of injustice, if there is a rebellion, let it be like this),” the former minister had posted. 

On Saturday, Mr Arya announced he was quitting the BJP in a terse four-line letter, stating that he was resigning from the primary membership of the party and the state executive.

Mr Arya’s resignation follows the exit of two Haryana ministers – Energy Minister Ranjit Singh Chautala and Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Social Justice Bishamber Singh Valmiki – and MLA Lakshman Napa, who were denied tickets. Key OBC leader Karan Dev Kamboj also resigned from all posts in the BJP for the same reason.

While Mr Chautala announced that he would contest as an Independent, Mr Napa said he would join the Congress.

The loss of Mr Chautala, 79, can hurt the party as he is the son of Chaudhary Devi Lal, one of Haryana’s tallest leaders, who served as chief minister twice and was also a deputy prime minister.

“I am Chaudhary Devi Lal’s son. I have some stature… I have decided to contest as an Independent,” Mr Chautala had said on Thursday.

Some of the leaders also alleged that loyalists were not being valued by the BJP.

“Perhaps the BJP does not need loyalists anymore,” Mr Kamboj had said, adding that the party was rewarding leaders who had joined recently while ignoring those who had served it for years. 

‘No Scope For Change’

Amid the rebellion, Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini had said on Friday that speculation over changing candidates should end as there was no scope for doing so.  “Everyone wants a ticket, but the ‘lotus’ (BJP’s symbol) can be given to only one person… It is natural for ticket-seekers to get angry. But they will be persuaded,” he said.

The BJP, which has ruled Haryana since 2014, faces a stiffer challenge this time because it lost five of the state’s 10 Lok Sabha seats to the Congress this year after sweeping all of them in 2019. The protests by farmers – who are seeking a legal guarantee for minimum support price (MSP) – last year’s agitation by wrestlers, and concerns over the Agnipath scheme for recruitment in the Army are seen as posing challenges to the party in the state. 

Congress Jolted Too

The Congress, which got a boost after inducting wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia into the party on Friday, also got a jolt on Saturday – just a day after releasing its first list of 32 candidates for the Haryana polls. Senior leader Rajesh Joon resigned from the Congress and decided to contest as an Independent candidate after being denied a ticket from Bahadurgarh, where the party decided to retain sitting MLA Rajinder Singh Joon. 

“The Congress leadership cheated me. I was promised a ticket but the promise was not kept. I will become an MLA by polling double the number of votes that the Congress candidate gets,” Mr Joon said. 

In the Baroda Assembly constituency, Congress leader Kapoor Singh Narwal said he was promised a ticket by Mr Hooda, but it was given to Induraj Singh Narwal.

“They have cheated the people of the constituency, not me. I will take a call on contesting as an Independent tomorrow (Sunday),” Kapoor Singh Narwal said, even as sources close to him indicated he could leave the party.

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.

New Delhi:

Shaking up the political landscape in Haryana weeks ahead of the Assembly elections in the state, wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia have joined the Congress. 

Both Olympians, who had been at the forefront of last year’s protests against the alleged sexual assault and intimidation by former Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, had met senior Congress leader and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday.

On Friday, Ms Phogat and Mr Punia, who are both 30 years old, met Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge at his residence before formally joining the party at its headquarters in New 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,” Mr Kharge posted in Hindi on X. 

चक दे इंडिया, चक दे हरियाणा!

दुनिया में भारत का नाम रौशन करने वाले हमारे प्रतिभाशाली चैंपियन विनेश फोगाट और बजरंग पुनिया से 10 राजाजी मार्ग पर मुलाक़ात।

हमें आप दोनों पर गर्व है। pic.twitter.com/aFRwfFeeo1

— Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) September 6, 2024

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

“I want to thank the people of the country for supporting me during my wrestling career and I hope I live up to their expectations. I want to thank the Congress because, as they say, it is only when times are bad that one finds out who is standing with them. When we were dragged on the roads, every party other than the BJP stood with us and understood our pain and our tears,” she said in Hindi.

“I am very proud to be associated with a party that stands up against misbehaviour and injustice against women… I want to assure the people of the country that we will work for them with the same intensity with which we worked in wrestling. We stand with every woman who finds herself helpless. If I wanted, I could have left wrestling at Jantar Mantar (during the protests) but I reached the finals of the Olympics… but God had other plans. He has now given me a chance to serve the people of my country,” she added.

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

“We are paying the price for raising our voice in support of the daughters of the country… We will keep working for the people of the country and strengthen the Congress party as well as India. Everyone was happy when Vinesh Phogat reached the finals but some people also celebrated when she was disqualified,” he said.

While no official announcement has been made yet, Ms Phogat is expected to contest from the Julana constituency, held by the Jannayak Janta Party, in the Haryana Assembly polls while Mr Punia is likely to be fielded from the Badli seat.

Resignation From Railways

Hours before joining the Congress, Ms Phogat resigned as an officer on special duty (OSD) with the Northern Railways, citing personal reasons. 

Posting a photo of her resignation letter, the wrestler wrote on X: “Serving Indian Railways has been a memorable and proud time of my life. At this point in my life, I have decided to separate myself from my service in the railways and have submitted my resignation to the competent authorities of the Indian Railways. I will always be grateful to the Indian Railway family for this opportunity given to me by the Railways in the service of the nation.

Ms Phogat’s popularity has received a boost recently after she missed out on what would have been at least a silver medal after being disqualified for exceeding the weight limit by 100 grams ahead of the final bout in the 50 kg freestyle wrestling event. The grit shown by the wrestler in defeating reigning gold medallist Yui Susaki of Japan and going on to enter the final had earned her plaudits while her eventual disqualification had broken a billion hearts. 

Farmers’ Support

Ms Phogat announced her retirement from wrestling after the disqualification and all eyes had been on her next steps. Last week, she reached the Haryana-Punjab Shambhu border, extended her support to farmers staging a protest for a legal guarantee for minimum support price (MSP) for crops and said she stood with them as their daughter. 

“Your agitation completes 200 days today. I pray to God that you get what you have come here for – your right, for justice…Your daughter stands with you. I also urge the government… we too are citizens of this country, if we raise our voices it is not political every time…You should hear them…What they are demanding is not unlawful,” she had said. 

Boost To Congress

The entry of the wrestlers into the Congress is expected to give it a boost as Ms Phogat is seen to enjoy support among farmers, who make up a significant voting bloc in Haryana. The Congress is hoping that the farmers’ anger against the BJP will help it dislodge the party from a state it has ruled since 2014. 

The Congress will also hope that Mr Punia and Ms Phogat joining the party will give it an upper hand in its negotiations with INDIA ally AAP in seat-sharing for the 90 constituencies in the state. While an in-principle agreement regarding an alliance had been announced on Wednesday, there appears to be a stalemate between the two parties with the AAP seeking 10 seats and the Congress willing to give up only five to seven. 

Upbeat after winning five out of the 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana this year after the BJP’s clean sweep in 2019, the state unit of the Congress was reluctant to part with any Assembly constituencies but the push for a tie-up has reportedly come from Rahul Gandhi, who has maintained that it will ensure there is no division of votes and give the party its best possible chance to defeat the BJP. 

Differences within the Congress have reportedly delayed its first list of candidates and the BJP has been facing pushback and a rebellion since it did so on Wednesday, with Energy Minister Ranjit Chautala and MLA Lakshman Napa quitting the party after being denied tickets. Mr Chautala has said he will contest as an Independent and Mr Napa has announced that he will be joining the Congress.

Mr Chautala is the son of Chaudhary Devi Lal Chaudhary, one of Haryana’s tallest leaders, who served as chief minister twice and was also a deputy prime minister.

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.)