Congress Expands Candidate List for Haryana Polls with 9 New Names

The Congress party announced nine additional candidates for the Haryana Assembly elections on Sunday. Among the new candidates are Brijendra Singh for Uchana Kalan and Mohit Grover for Gurugram. This brings the total number of Congress candidates to 41 for the 90-member assembly.

Key Candidates and Constituencies

In addition to Singh and Grover, the Congress has nominated Anirudh Chaudhary from Tosham, Ashok Arora from Thanesar, Kuldeep Sharma from Ganaur, Paramvir Singh from Tohana, Balram Dangi from Meham, Manju Choudhary from Nangal Chaudhary, and Vardhan Yadav from Badshahpur. The Tosham seat will see a contest between two grandchildren of former Haryana Chief Minister Bansi Lal. Anirudh Chaudhary, a cricket administrator-turned-politician, will face his cousin Shruti Choudhry, the BJP candidate.

Family Ties in Politics

Shruti Choudhry is the daughter of BJP leader Kiran Choudhry and Surender Singh, Bansi Lal's son. Anirudh Chaudhary is the son of Ranbir Singh Mahendra. Both Mahendra and Surender Singh were brothers. Brijendra Singh, another key candidate, is the son of former Union Minister Birender Singh. He will compete against former Deputy Chief Minister and current JJP MLA Dushyant Chautala in Uchana Kalan.

Prominent Figures in the List

The second list also includes notable figures such as Paramvir Singh, a former minister; Balram Dangi, son of senior party leader Anand Singh Dangi; and Kuldeep Sharma, a former Assembly Speaker. On Friday, Congress had already declared 32 candidates for the polls. This list featured former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda from Garhi Sampla-Kiloi, state unit chief Udai Bhan from Hodal, and wrestler Vinesh Phogat from Julana.

Renominations and New Faces

The party has renominated all its 28 sitting MLAs. Besides Hooda, Bhan, and Phogat, Mewa Singh has been fielded from Ladwa to challenge Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini. The initial list included 31 candidates with an additional statement approving Balbir Singh's candidature for Israna reserved for Scheduled Castes. Balbir Singh is the current MLA from Israna.

Alliance Talks with AAP

Congress is also negotiating seat-sharing arrangements with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for the Haryana elections. However, some Congress leaders have reservations about forming an alliance with Arvind Kejriwal's party. Both parties are engaged in intense bargaining over seat distribution.

The Haryana Assembly elections are scheduled for October 5, with vote counting set to take place on October 8.