Haryana Assembly Elections 2019: Top contests
Chandigarh, Oct 20: The ruling BJP is locked in a tight contest with the opposition Congress and the fledgling JJP for the 90 assembly seats that will go to polls in Haryana on Monday.
While the Congress is hoping to make a comeback following the change in guard in the state, the BJP has set a target to bag at least 75 seats in the contest in which 1,169 candidates of various political outfits are in the fray.
The Dushyant Chautala-led Jannayak Janta Party (JJP), a breakaway faction of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), is also hoping for an improvement in its prospects following the Lok Sabha debacle.
Manohar Lal Khattar
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Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar is seeking re-election to the Karnal Assembly seat. He is the first Punjabi chief minister in Jat-dominated Haryana. He defeated independent candidate Jai Prakash Gupta from Karnal by a margin of 63,773 votes to secure his seat.
Bhupinder Singh Hooda
Bhupinder Singh Hooda has won eight polls, including one against former deputy prime minister Devi Lal. Still, the Haryana Assembly election will be a tough one for the Haryana Congress veteran.
The
72-year-old
satrap,
who
has
been
chief
minister
twice
and
an
MP
four
times,
is
seeking
re-election
from
his
home
constituency
Garhi
Sampla-Kiloi
in
Rohtak
district.
Thirteen
candidates
are
in
the
fray
for
this
Jat-dominated
seat
with
over
two
lakh
voters.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has fielded Satish Nandal, a former Rohtak district unit president of the Indian National Lok Dal who switched sides earlier this year.
Babita Phogat
Babita Phogat is an Indian wrestler who won gold in 2014 and the 2018 Commonwealth Games. She joined the BJP party in August 2019 and is contesting elections from Dadri.
The BJP believes that the induction of Phogats into the party will help it politically in the poll-bound Haryana. Assembly elections are due in the state later this year.
The Phogat household came to be known nationwide following the success of Hindi film Dangal, which is loosely based on the lives of Phogat sisters, all of them wrestlers, and their father who coached them against all odds.
Yogeshwar Dutt
Olympic medallist wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt, who joined the BJP recently is contesting elections from the Baroda constituency where it is yet to win since the formation of the state. Baroda is currently in the reigns of INC's Shri Krishan from the last two elections. Baroda is currently the Congress hold from the last two elections.
Tej Bahadur Yadav
Former BSF jawan Tej Bahadur Yadav, who was dismissed in 2017 after he posted a video complaining about the quality of food served to the troops of the force is up against Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar. Yadav, who hails from Mahendergarh district, joined the JJP in New Delhi in the presence of its leader Dushyant Chautala.
Cong has 'already accepted defeat' in Haryana polls, says Modi
He had earlier filed for nomination against PM Modi from Varanasi constituency in Lok Sabha elections from BSP ticket, but his candidature was cancelled by the Election Commission.
Abhay Singh Chautala
Abhay, Son of former Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala holds the Ellenabad constituency in Haryana. The Ellenabad constituency is held by him after he defeated Pawan Beniwal of BJP by a margin of 11,539 votes bagging 69,162 votes. He will contest from INLD for the second time.
Randeep Singh Surjewala
Randeep Singh is the national spokesperson of the Congress and will be contesting from Kaithal constituency. He became the youngest Cabinet Minister in the Haryana Cabinet in 2005 under the Bhupinder Hooda-led state government.
Anil Vij
Anil Vij is serves as cabinet minister in the Government of Haryana with independent charge on Health services, science and technology, sports and youth affairs. He contesting from Ambala Cantonment constituency in the upcoming polls.
Captain Abhimanyu
Captain Abhimanyu serves as the Minister of Finance in Manohar Lal Khattar's cabinet. A decorated army officer, he joined the BJP in 1997, and in 2014, won the Narnaund (Hisar district) seat (in the Haryana Assembly elections. He is expected to contest from the same seat this time around.
Sonali Singh Phogat
The BJP has fielded TikTok sensation and TV actress Sonali Singh Phogat from Adampur constituency against Kuldeep Bishnoi of Congress. Bhajan Lal represented the seat eight times in the Legislative Assembly.
While 15 candidates are in the fray from this Jat-dominated constituency that has a voter strength of over 1.60 lakh, the main contest is seen between Phogat and 51-year-old Bishnoi.
Phogat, shot to fame via short video-making app Tik Tok, is campaigning from village to village in rural hinterlands.
The main contest is seen among the BJP, Congress and the JJP. The BSP, AAP, INLD-SAD combine, Swaraj India and the Loktantra Suraksha Party (LSP) have thrown the hat into the ring, though none of them is fighting on all 90 seats.
In the 2014 assembly polls, the BJP for the first time came to power in Haryana on its own strength.
OneIndia News (with PTI inputs)