Haryana Assembly Election 2024: Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday named former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, Ajay Maken and Gurdaspur MP Partap Singh Bajwa as the party's Senior Observers for the ensuing Assembly elections in Haryana on October 5. Kharge said the three observers will ensure a smooth process for the Haryana elections.
Earlier, the Congress released a fresh list of 40 candidates for the upcoming assembly elections in Haryana. The list comprises some prominent names including, Aditya, the son of Randeep Surjewala, along with Chander Mohan from Panchkula, Ch Nirmal Singh from Ambala and Varinder Kumar Shah from Panipat City.
Hours later, it released its fourth list of five candidates, where it pitted Parimal Pari from Ambala Cantt against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Anil Vij. The party also fielded former Haryana Youth Congress chief Sachin Kundu from the Panipat Rural seat and state youth wing's spokesperson Rohit Nagar from Tigaon. The Congress named Satbir Dublain for the Narwana (SC) reserved seat and Sarva Mitra Kamboj for Rania.
Last week, the Congress 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. Singh is the incumbent MLA from Israna.
The Congress was also engaged in seat-sharing talks with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for the Haryana polls, with hard bargaining going on from both sides. However, the talks hit a deadlock and the AAP has released multiple lists since then. Some Congress leaders have expressed reservations over a tie-up with the Arvind Kejriwal-led party. Assembly elections in Haryana will be held on October 5 and the counting of votes will be undertaken on October 8.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has seen the resignations of prominent leaders like the state unit's vice president GL Sharma, OBC Morcha state president, Karan Dev Kamboj, Bachan Singh Arya, Ranjit Singh Chautala and Bishamber Singh Valmiki. The party has enjoyed 10 years in power but is now preparing for an uphill battle against the opposition.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) on August 31 revised the polling day for Haryana Assembly Elections from October 1 to October 5, this year as well as moved the counting of votes for both Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana Assemblies from October 4 to October 8. The decision has been taken to honour both the voting rights and the traditions of the Bishnoi community, which has upheld a centuries-old practice of participating in the Asoj Amavasya festival celebration in remembrance of their Guru Jambheshwar as per the ECI.
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