BJP Fields 67 Candidates for Haryana Polls; CM Saini to Contest from Ladwa

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday announced its first list of 67 candidates for the upcoming Haryana Assembly elections. Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini has been shifted from Karnal to contest from Ladwa. The list includes several recent entrants to the party and members of prominent political families.

Prominent Political Families and New Entrants

Shruti Choudhry, granddaughter of former Chief Minister Bansi Lal, will contest from Tosham. Devender Singh Babli, who recently joined BJP from Jannayak Janta Party (JJP), will run from Tohana. Sanjay Kablana, another new entrant, will contest from Beri. Union Minister Rao Inderjit Singh's daughter, Aarti Singh Rao, is fielded from Ateli.

Former Haryana BJP chief Om Prakash Dhankar is contesting from Badli, while veteran leader Anil Vij seeks re-election from Ambala Cantt. Bhavya Bishnoi, grandson of former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal, has been re-nominated from Adampur.

Women Candidates and Senior Leaders

Eight women feature in the first list of candidates. Ambala Mayor Shakti Rani Sharma, who switched to BJP recently, will contest from Kalka. Manju Hooda, Rohtak Zila Parishad chairperson, will run from Garhi Sampla-Kiloi against Congress stalwart Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

Senior BJP leader Jagmohan Anand will contest from Karnal, currently represented by Chief Minister Saini. Anand is considered close to Union Minister Manohar Lal Khattar. State ministers Kanwar Pal, Kamal Gupta, Jai Prakash Dalal, Mahipal Dhanda, Abhe Singh Yadav, and Mool Chand Sharma have been fielded from their current segments.

Former Ministers and Sitting Legislators

Former ministers Vipul Goel and Arvind Sharma are fielded from Faridabad and Gohana respectively. Rajya Sabha MP Krishan Lal Panwar will contest from Israna SC seat. Capt Abhimanyu and Sunita Duggal are fielded from Narnaund and Ratia SC segments respectively.

Ranjit Singh Chautala has not been fielded from Rania; instead, Shishpal Kamboj will contest there. Some sitting legislators like Sanjay Singh and Sandeep Singh are not included in the first list.

New Faces and Strategic Shifts

Among new faces are Devender Attri (Uchana Kalan), Shakti Rani Sharma (Kalka), Ram Kumar Gautam (Safidon), Subhash Kalsana (Shahabad-SC), Kamaljeet Singh Ajrana (Pehowa), Manmohan Bhadana (Samalkha), Pawan Kharkhoda (Kharkhoda-SC), Nikhil Madan (Sonipat), Anil Dahina (Kosli), Mukesh Sharma (Gurgaon), Tejpal Tanwar (Sohna) and Gaurav Gautam (Palwal).

Sunil Sangwan, a former jail superintendent who joined BJP recently, is fielded from Charkhi Dadri. Ranbir Gangwa has been shifted from Nalwa to Barwala.

The BJP aims for a third consecutive term in the Haryana Assembly elections scheduled for October 5. The counting of votes will take place on October 8.