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Over 20 million voters in Haryana will choose from 1,031 candidates in assembly elections focused on farmers' issues, caste, and anti-incumbency.
A little over 20 million people will cast their vote across 90 seats in Haryana on Saturday in assembly elections that were fought on a host of issues ranging from farmers’ distress and the contentious Agnipath scheme to caste fault lines and anti-incumbency.
A total of 1,031 candidates are in the fray for the single-phase polls, which is taking place months after surprising Lok Sabha results showed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress locked in a neck-and-neck fight, winning five seats each. The state assembly has 73 general seats and 17 reserved for the scheduled castes.
“The voting will start at 7am and continue till 6 pm. I appeal to the voters of Haryana to come to the polling stations in large numbers and exercise their franchise and play their role in the democratic system,” Haryana’s chief electoral officer Pankaj Agarwal said.
The elections will likely be a direct contest between the BJP and the Congress, with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Jannayak Janata Party (JJP), the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) also in the fray.
The ruling BJP is looking to fend-off anti-incumbency and score a hat-trick of wins in the state. “The people of Haryana have decided that BJP is forming its government with full majority. Today, the scenario of the entire Haryana is in favour of the BJP,” chief minister Nayab Singh Saini, who is contesting from Ladwa, said.
The Congress, which rules only three states on its own, said it will carry forward the momentum of the Lok Sabha polls and form a government in the state after 10 years.
“I urge Haryana voters to cast their vote and strengthen our democracy... I appeal to Congress workers to stay alert on the voting day as well as counting day. I hope the voters will exercise their franchise to change the regime in Haryana,” former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who is contesting from Garhi Sampla-Kiloi, said.
The wrestlers’ protest against BJP strongman and Wrestling India Foundation’s ex- chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh over sexual harassment allegations is also likely to be a key poll plank. Wrestler Vinesh Phogat, who became the face of the agitation, is contesting as a Congress candidate from Julana, adding a new facet to the high-stakes electoral contest.
In 2019, the BJP won 40 of the 90 seats (it fell short of the majority mark of 46) and formed the government in an alliance with the JJP, which won 10. The Congress won 31 seats. But earlier this year, the ruling coalition collapsed after the BJP snapped ties with the JJP and changed its chief minister from Manohar Lal Khattar to Saini.
The JJP is contesting this year’s elections in an alliance with the Azad Samaj Party (ASP) of Chandrasekhar Azad. The Congress and the AAP, both part of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc, have decided to contest the elections separately after talks for a seat-sharing arrangement broke down. The INLD and BSP are fighting the elections together.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the campaign for the BJP and held four rallies in the northern state, where he reiterated the highlighted initiatives of the “double-engine” government – a reference to BJP governments both at the Centre and the state – and targeted the Congress on reservation, corruption, appeasement and dynastic politics.
The Congress looked to corner the BJP on the grievances of the Agniveers and farmers, issues that were seen as the key factors behind BJP’s tepid performance in the state in the summer’s Lok Sabha polls.
“Today, Haryana has the highest unemployment in India. The reason for this is that in a decade, the BJP has broken the backbone of every system that employs the youth of the state,” Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi posted on X.
AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal also campaigned in Haryana for his party and alleged the BJP dispensation put him in jail so as to stop his works and also prove him dishonest.
