 "Haryana polls: Congress releases 1st list, fields Vinesh Phogat from Julana")
The Congress party on Friday announced its first list of 31 candidates for the upcoming Haryana Assembly elections. Among notable contenders, wrestler Vinesh Phogat was nominated for the Julana seat, shortly after she, along with fellow wrestler Bajrang Punia, joined the party.
The party has nominated former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda to contest from the Garhi Sampla-Kiloi constituency. Surender Panwar will represent Sonipat, while Jagbir Singh Malik has been selected for Gohana, and Bharat Bhushan Batra for Rohtak.
Haryana Congress President Udai Bhan is set to run for the Assembly elections from the Hodal constituency. Meanwhile, Congress candidate Mewa Singh will face off against Haryana Chief Minister and BJP leader Nayab Saini in Ladwa.
For the Badli seat, the Congress has nominated Kuldeep Vata, while Geeta Bhukkal will contest from Jhajjar (SC-reserved). Chiranjeev Rao will represent the party in Rewari, Aftab Ahmed in Nuh, and Neeraj Sharma in Faridabad NIT.
The Congress has fielded Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) defector Ram Karan as its candidate for the Shahbad reserved constituency, along with Independent MLA Dharam Pal Gondar for Nilokheri. Both the leaders joined the Congress recently.
The list was released following a meeting of the Congress' Central Election Committee (CEC) in Delhi. The meeting included key leaders such as Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, former party leader Sonia Gandhi, General Secretary for Organisational Affairs K C Venugopal, AICC Haryana in-charge Deepak Babaria, and Hooda, among other senior members.
Earlier this week, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) announced its list of 67 candidates for the upcoming Assembly elections, relying on 21 sitting legislators while also introducing over 20 fresh candidates. In an effort to counteract the significant anti-incumbency sentiment after a decade in power in Haryana, the party decided to exclude at least eight sitting MLAs.
Haryana will go to polls on October 5, with the vote counting set for October 8. Candidates must file their nominations by September 12, after which scrutiny will take place on September 13. The deadline for withdrawing nominations is September 16.