The Congress party has released its third and most extensive list of candidates for the Haryana Assembly elections 2024, naming contenders for 40 of the state’s 90 constituencies. Among the candidates is Aditya Surjewala, son of Congress Rajya Sabha MP Randeep Singh Surjewala. Notably, two individuals had already filed their nominations for the constituencies they aimed to represent prior to the party’s announcement.
With this latest list, Congress has now designated candidates for a total of 81 seats, leaving only nine seats without announced candidates. This release coincided with the BJP’s unveiling of its final list of three candidates for the upcoming polls.
Aditya Surjewala will contest from the Kaithal Assembly constituency, a seat previously held by his father and Congress General Secretary, who has been elected as an MLA multiple times.
In the Palwal constituency, Karan Dalal, the son-in-law of former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, has received a ticket, alongside Vikas Saharan, son of party MP Jai Parkash, who will contest from the Kalayat Assembly constituency. Both had submitted their nominations prior to the official announcement from Congress.
From the Kosali Assembly constituency, the party has opted for Jagdish Yadav instead of Rao Yaduvender Singh, brother of BJP’s Gurgaon MP and Union Minister Rao Inderjit Singh. Rao Yaduvender Singh previously contested from this constituency in 2019 but lost by over 38,000 votes.
The third list includes five female candidates: Pearl Chaudhary from Pataudi, Anita Yadav from Ateli, Sumita Virk from Karnal, Pooja Chaudhary from Mulana, and Parag Sharma from Ballabgarh. Pooja Chaudhary is the wife of Varun Choudhary, who won from Mulana in 2019 and was elected as the MP from Ambala in this year’s Lok Sabha elections.
Chander Mohan, the elder son of former chief minister Bhajan Lal and a former deputy minister in the Bhupinder Singh Hooda government, will contest from Panchkula. Sombir Singh, son-in-law of another former chief minister, Chaudhary Bansi Lal, has been fielded from the Badhra seat.
Voting for all 90 seats in Haryana is scheduled for October 5, with counting set for October 8. The BJP aims to maintain its power in the Hindi heartland state, which it has governed since 2014, while facing formidable competition from a revitalized Congress party.
The political landscape has become more intriguing, as the state’s 10 Lok Sabha seats were evenly divided between the Congress and BJP this year, contrasting with the BJP’s clean sweep in the 2014 general elections.
