1,972 candidates file nomination for Haryana elections

As many as 1,972 candidates have filed their nomination for 90 Assembly seats in Haryana, elections for which will be held on October 15.
While the highest number of 44 candidates filed papers from the Bhiwani Assembly constituency, lowest number of 11 nominations were received for Narayangarh and Nuh each, according to Chief Electoral Officer Shrikant Walgad.
He said while 43 candidates filed papers from Assandh Assembly constituency, 36 did from Panipat (Rural) and 34 from Jind.
Yesterday was the last day for filing nomination.
The scrutiny of nomination papers will be held tomorrow and candidates can withdraw their names by October 1.

The counting of votes will take place on October 19.

About 1.61 crore voters will cast their votes at 16,244 polling stations to be set up in the state.
In the last Assembly elections in 2009, Congress had won 40 seats, INLD 31, BJP 4, HJC-BL 6, SAD and BSP one each and seven seats had gone to Independents.
Though Congress had not got a majority, Bhupinder Singh Hooda formed the government for the second term with the support of five of the six HJC-BL members, who joined the ruling outfit, and seven Independents.
Haryana is all set to witness a multi-cornered contest this time. Key players in the fray include Congress, BJP, Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), BSP, Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC)-Haryana Jan Chetna Party (HJCP) alliance, Haryana Lokhit Party (HLP), besides the Left parties.

BJP is testing electoral waters in Haryana on its own for the first time by fielding its candidates on all 90 seats. Before this, the party had enetered the poll arena in the state in alliance with some regional outfits, including INLD.
Besides Hooda, the key contestants include Ajay Singh Yadav (Cong), Kiran Choudhary (Cong), M L Khattar (BJP), Anil Vij (BJP), Abhay Singh Chautala (INLD), MP Dushyant Chautala (INLD), former Union minister Venod Sharma (Haryana Jan Chetna Party), Kuldeep Bishnoi (HJC), Maratha Virender Verma (BSP) and Gopal Kanda (Haryana Lokhit Party).