223 candidates in fray for LS polls in Haryana

A total of 223 candidates are left in the fray for 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana which will go to the polls in the sixth phase on May 12, an official said Friday.

On the last day of withdrawal of nominations, 10 candidates from six parliamentary constituencies have withdrawn their nominations, Joint Chief Electoral Officer Inder Jeet said in an official release.

While one candidate each has withdrawn nomination from Kurukshetra, Sirsa, Hisar, Bhiwani-Mahendergarh and Gurugram parliamentary constituencies, five candidates have withdrawn their nomination from Karnal seat, he said.

Eighteen candidates are contesting from Ambala, 24 from Kurukshetra, 29 from Sonipat, 21 from Bhiwani-Mahendegarh, 24 from Gurugram, 20 from Sirsa, 26 from Hisar, 16 from Karnal, 18 from Rohtak and 27 from Faridabad, the officer said.

At least 29 candidates are in fray from the Sonipat parliamentary constituency, from where former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda is pitted against BJP's sitting MP Ramesh Chander Kaushik and JJP's Digvijay Chautala.

Sixteen candidates are in fray from the Karnal seat, where the BJP has replaced its sitting MP Ashwani Kumar Chopra and fielded Sanjay Bhatia.

In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, 230 candidates contested on 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana, Inder Jeet said.