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The fate of about 1031 candidates including Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Vinesh Phogat will be sealed in Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) as elections to the 90-member assembly began across Haryana today. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is eyeing a hat-trick of electoral victories in the state while the Congress party is hoping to make a comeback after being in opposition for a decade. Votes will be counted on October 8.
Apart from the BJP and the Congress, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) and the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) have also stakes in today's election. In 2019 assembly polls, the BJP emerged as the single largest party by bagging 40 of the 90 seats, six short of simple majority. Eventually, the BJP formed the government in a post-poll alliance with the JJP and seven Independent MLAs.
BJP's Manohar Lal Khattar became the chief minister and JJP's Dushyant Chautala was sworn in as the deputy chief minister. Khattar is now Union Minister and JJP has since pulled out of the alliance. Here are some of the prominent candidates whose fate will be sealed today: 1- CM Nayab Singh Saini – Ladwa BJP leader and incumbent chief minister of Haryana Nayab Singh Saini is contesting from the Ladwa Assembly seat in Kurukshetra district.
In 2014, Saini won from Naraingarh Assembly, In 2019 he won from the Kurukshetra Lok Sabha. Former chief minister Hooda is a veteran Congress leader who is contesting from the his traditional Garhi Sampla-Kiloi seat in Rohtak district. The two-time chief minister and four-time MP is seen as a probable CM candidate of the Congress party, even as there has not been any official announcement yet.
The leader of the opposition in Haryana is a prominent Jat leader in a state where the community plays a significant role in determining the outcome in about 40 of the 90 seats voting today. Wrestler-turned-politician Vinesh Phogat is contesting from the Julana seat in Jind district as a Congress candidate. Phogat hails from Charkhi Dadri district, but her in-laws are from Julana.
The Olympian Phogat was among wrestlers at the forefront of the protest against then Wrestling Federation of India chief and former BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh in 2023. Former BJP leader Savitri Jindal, is contesting the upcoming elections as an Independent candidate from Hisar seat. The chairperson of the OP Jindal Group, Savitri is India’s richest woman and mother of BJP MP Naveen Jindal.
She has net worth of ₹ 270 crore , making her the second wealthiest candidate in the race. Savitri has been an MLA from Hisar earlier too and has also served as a minister in the Hooda-led Congress government. In August, Forbes ranked her as the wealthiest woman in India, with the Jindal Group valued at $39.
5 billion. Former Army officer Captain Abhimanyu is a prominent BJP leader and Jat leader contesting from the Narnaund assembly seat in Hisar district. With total assets worth ₹ 491 crore, Abhimanyu is the wealthiest candidate in today's Haryana Elections.
A Harvard graduate, Abhimanyu left the Army in 1994 after six years of service. He also cracked UPSC and gave up IAS. Dushyant Chautala is a fourth-generation politician from the family of Chaudhary Devi Lal, the former deputy prime minister who also served as chief minister of Haryana two times and founded the INLD.
Dushyant's father Ajay Singh Chautala is Om Prakash Chautala’s son. Om Prakash is one of the four sons of Devi Lal. Dushyant , the former deputy chief minister of Haryana, is in the fray from the Uchana Kalan seat in Jind district as a JJP candidate.
The JJP won ten seats in 2019 assembly polls and formed the government with BJP. The BJP-JJP alliance however broke in the run up to 2024 assembly election. 7- Anurag Dhanda - Kalayat Anurag Dhanda is contesting from Kalayat seat as AAP candidate.
A former journalist, Anurag is senior vice president of AAP in Haryana. In 2019, Kamlesh Dhanda of the BJP won the seat. The BJP has fielded Kamlesh, the former minister, this time too.
The Congress has fielded Vikas Saharan, son of its Hisar MP Jai Prakash from this seat..
