BJP releases first list of 78 candidates for Haryana polls; CM Khattar to contest from Karnal

Updated: Monday, September 30, 2019, 17:18 [IST]

Chandigarh, Sep 30: The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday released its first list of 78 candidates for Haryana Assembly Polls.

Wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt will contest from Baroda, Ex-hockey captain Sandeep Singh from Pehowa, and wrestler Babita Phogat to contest from Dadri, Haryana CM ML Khattar to contest from Karnal.

Khattar had won from Karnal seat in 2014.

Haryana BJP president Subhash Barala will contest from Tohana, Captain Abhimanyu from Narnod and Om Prakash Dhankar from Badli, Singh said.

Former Union minister and Jat leader Birender Singh's MLA wife will contest from Uchana Kalan, a seat she had won in 2014.

The candidates include nine women and two Muslims.

The announcement comes a day after BJP held the Central Election Committee meeting to finalise its candidates for the assembly elections in Haryana and Maharashtra.

The party's top brass, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, its chief Amit Shah and working president J P Nadda, deliberated for several hours with other CEC members and leaders from the two states to finalise names of candidates.

The 90 member Haryana assembly has 17 reserved seats for SCs and none for STs. There are 1.82 crore registered voters in the state out of which 1.07 lakh are service voters.

In Haryana, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar-led BJP is hoping to retain power. They are facing the Congress, led by former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Kumari Selja.

BJP will also face regional parties like the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) and the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP). It is unclear if an opposition alliance will come up in the state.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has slated the single-phase voting for the 90-member Haryana Assembly elections on October 21 and the counting of votes is scheduled on October 24.

Haryana assembly has 90 seats and the BJP won 47 in 2014 and formed the government. The BJP ended 10 years rule of the Congress in 2014.

Here is the full list of candidates