(From L to R) Wrestler-turned-politician Vinesh Phogat; Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini; India’s richest woman Savitri Jindal.
Credit: PTI Photos
The multi-cornered contest for Haryana's 90-member Assembly is intensifying, with major political parties — Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Jannayak Janata Party (JJP), and Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) — announcing their candidates.
The candidates are now actively campaigning, while several rebels who were denied tickets have also joined the fray. A total of 1,031 candidates are contesting in the Haryana elections.
The ruling BJP, seeking a third consecutive term, is relying on support from non-Jat communities, including OBCs, Punjabis, and Brahmins. Earlier this year, the BJP replaced Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar with Nayab Singh Saini, a prominent OBC leader.
The Congress, too, is vying for Jat votes, while all major parties are aiming to secure Dalit support, crucial in a state with 17 Assembly seats reserved for Scheduled Castes.
Ahead of voting on October 5, with counting set for October 8, we take a close look at some of the key constituencies.
Ladwa
Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini will contest from Ladwa, which is being considered as a safe seat for him. In the recent Lok Sabha elections, the BJP secured 47.14 per cent of the vote in the Ladwa segment, part of the Kurukshetra Lok Sabha seat.
Ladwa was created in 2007, and INLD’s Sher Singh Barshami was its first MLA. However, Barshami was later convicted in the teachers’ recruitment scam, leading to BJP’s Pawan Saini winning the seat. Congress gained control of Ladwa in 2019 when Mewa Singh won by 12,637 votes.
Saini faces stiff competition from AAP’s Joga Singh, INLD’s Sher Singh Barshami, Congress’ sitting MLA Mewa Singh, and JJP’s advocate Vinod Sharma. The constituency’s population is predominantly rural, with Scheduled Castes comprising 22.6 per cent, and the Saini community making up 7.4 per cent.
No party has won the Ladwa seat twice since 2009, making this race particularly interesting.
Ateli
The Ateli constituency, part of the Ahirwal belt, has a significant Yadav population, which comprises 50-60 per cent of the electorate. BJP has fielded Arti Rao Singh, daughter of Gurgaon MP Rao Inderjit Singh, marking her electoral debut.
Interestingly, three women are among the main contestants here.
The 45-year-old national-level shooter is up against former Congress MLA Anita Yadav and 2019 runner-up Thakur Attar Lal of the BSP. Meanwhile, JJP has fielded another debutant Aayushi Yadav, niece of former minister and BJP candidate from Badshahpur (Gurugram) Rao Narbir Singh. Suneel Rao, who is the brother-in-law of Bollywood actor Rajkummar Rao, is trying his fortune on the AAP ticket
Ateli is considered a stronghold of the BJP, however, it won’t be an easy ride this time.
Anita Yadav of Congress, who faced consecutive defeats in 2014 and 2019 from BJP candidates, is likely to attract the Yadav votes as BJP is an anti-incumbency wave while Atar Lal of BSP is known to be connected with the voters at the grassroots level. Ateli seat has 28 per cent Scheduled Caste (SC) voters which makes BSP a huge factor in the seat.
Julana
Julana is one of Haryana’s most closely watched constituencies, as wrestler-turned-politician Vinesh Phogat makes her political debut.
With about 1.85 lakh voters, Julana falls under the Jind district and has never seen a female candidate. Phogat is a rare female candidate from this seat as both BJP and Congress have fielded male candidates from Julana in the past.
Phogat is up against BJP’s Yogesh Bairagi, who is the current vice-president of BJP Haryana Youth wing convenor of BJP’s sports cell in the state. Hailing from Safidon in Jind district, Bairagi is also known for his social service during natural disasters and other emergencies.
JJP has fielded sitting MLA Amarjeet Dhanda who had garnered 49 per cent of votes in the last elections. Surender Lather is fighting on INLD’s ticket while AAP has fielded Kaita Dalal, a former WWE wrestler and 2016 South Asian Gold Medalist in weightlighting.
The constituency is dominated by the Jat community, with approximately 81,000 Jat voters. The seat also has significant populations of Backward Class (33,608) and Scheduled Caste (29,661) voters.
Mulana
In Mulana, a contest between a veteran and a newcomer is unfolding.
BJP’s sitting MLA, 69-year-old Santosh Chauhan Sarwan, is up against Congress’ 38-year-old Pooja Chaudhary.
Just Ateli, Mulana is also dominated by women candidates as both BJP and Congress have fielded female candidates.
Santosh Sarwan is the sitting MLA from the Mulana seat.
Her challenger Pooja, who is making her electoral debut, is the wife of incumbent Lok Sabha MP from Ambala, Varun Chaudhary. Varun had won the Mulana assembly seat in the 2019 state polls, but vacated the seat after becoming the MP.
Hisar
Hisar is one of the most high-stakes constituencies, with India’s richest woman, Savitri Jindal, contesting as an independent after being snubbed by BJP.
She faces BJP’s sitting MLA Kamal Gupta, the state health minister.. In the 2014 Assembly elections, Jindal was defeated by Gupta when running as a Congress candidate.
This time, the competition is further intensified with the Congress fielding Ram Niwas Rara, a relatively unknown figure, leaving the battle largely between Jindal and Gupta.
Assembly Elections 2024 | In the first assembly polls since the Lok Sabha elections, Narendra Modi and the BJP face a rejuvenated and vindicated Opposition in the Haryana assembly polls. Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir is voting after almost a decade and it remains to be seen how the abrogation of Article 370 has impacted the political landscape of the Valley. Track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.