Haryana’s principal opposition party the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) on Thursday released the second list of 11 party candidates, including two sitting MLAs, for the ensuing assembly elections in the state likely in about two months from now.
While three-time MLA Ram Pal Majra has been given ticket from Kalayat, the party MLA from Nangal Chaudhary, Rao Bahadur Singh would be contesting from Mahendergarh assembly segment. He had contested Lok Sabha election from Bhiwani-Mahendergarh and finished second.
Likewise, former MLA Zakir Husain, former two-time MLA from Nuh, who had contested recently held Lok Sabha poll, would again contest assembly election from Nuh.
Other candidates of the INLD were party Kaithal district president Kailash Bhagat from Kaithal, Balwan Singh Daulatpuria from Fatehabad, Nirmal Chaudhary from Gannaur, Anup Dhanak from Uklana, Satyavir Yadav from Ateli, Lalit Kumar Bansal from Ballabhgarh, Teja Dalal Pahalwan from Bahadurgarh and Sadhu Ram from Jhajjar seat.
With the list of 11 more candidates by party leader Abhay Singh Chautala and INLD state president Ashok Arora, the party has so far declared names of 73 candidates. There are 90 assembly seats in Haryana, hence the names of remaining 17 candidates would be announced later.
Also, since the INLD supremo and former chief minister Om Prakash Chautala, his MLA son Ajay Chautala and another senior leader, Sher Singh Badshami, are serving 10 years’ jail term in a teachers’ recruitment case, the INLD is yet to announce candidates from Uchana Kalan, Dabwali and Ladwa, the leaders’ seats, respectively.
Also, since the INLD supremo and former chief minister Om Prakash Chautala, his MLA son Ajay Chautala and another senior leader, Sher Singh Badshami, are serving 10 years’ jail term in a teachers’ recruitment case, the INLD is yet to announce candidates from Uchana Kalan, Dabwali and Ladwa, the leaders’ seats, respectively.
The INLD has an alliance with Punjab’s ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), and given Kalanwali and Ambala seats to SAD. While the SAD candidate had lost Ambala seat, its candi date Charanjit Singh Rori, who was MLA from Kalanwali, had contested from Sirsa Lok Sabha seat and won and subsequently resigned as MLA.
While BJP has alliance with SAD in Punjab, in Haryana, the SAD candidates would be contesting against BJP candidates, an issue, the Haryana BJP has taken up with its central leadership.