Haryana polls: Wrestler Vinesh Phogat wins from Julana by over 6,000 votes

Vinesh Phogat joined Congress ahead of the Haryana Assembly elections and decided to contest from Julana. She faces BJP's Capt Yogesh Bairagi and AAP's Kavita Devi, also a wrestler

Wrestler-politician Vinesh Phogat has successfully won her debut election from Haryana's Julana constituency, defeating BJP's Capt Yogesh Bairagi by a margin of over 6,000 votes. Vinesh secured a total of 65,080 votes from the seat.

After hours of 15 rounds of counting trends, data showed that Phogat had won by a margin of 6,015 votes. Phogat joined Congress ahead of the Haryana Assembly elections and decided to contest from Julana. To counter her, the BJP had fielded Capt Yogesh Bairagi, and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) nominated Kavita Devi, also a wrestler. Kavita secured only 1,280 votes.

Phogat’s induction into Congress may bolster the party's influence among farmers, youth, and women.

Get Live Updates on Haryana Election Results 2024

What exit polls predicted for Haryana

On Saturday, at least four exit polls indicated that Congress would be able to form a government on its own in Haryana. Meanwhile, counting is also underway for the Jammu and Kashmir elections, where it is predicted that Congress and the National Conference may have an edge.

At 2 pm, the counting trend on Election Commission's website showed that the BJP was leading on 50 seats, while the Congress on 35 seats.

Key battles in Haryana

Other significant battles in Haryana include Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini’s seat Ladwa, former Congress Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s Garhi Sampla-Kiloi, BJP MLA Anil Vij’s Ambala Cantt, and Savitri Jindal’s Hisar seat, among others.

In the 2019 Assembly polls, BJP won 40 seats, while Congress secured 31 seats in Haryana. The saffron party joined hands with Dushyant Chautala’s Jannayak Janta Party (JJP), which won 10 seats, to form a coalition government. Chautala was appointed deputy chief minister of Haryana under Manohar Lal Khattar. He is contesting from his stronghold Uchana, aiming to retain it.