Haryana Assembly elections | An overview of the field ahead of the polls

Battle lines in Haryana are drawn as all major political parties have released their candidate lists. Who is in the fray and what are the various alliances? We take a look.

The story so far: The candidate lists have been announced for the Haryana Assembly elections, set to take place on October 5, with Monday (September 16, 2024) marking the last date for withdrawal of candidates.

A multi-cornered contest is expected in the elections for Haryana’s 90 member Assembly, with Aam Aadmi Party, Indian National Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party, Jannayak Janata Party and Indian National Lok Dal all fielding candidates in the fray. BJP will seek to hold on to its mandate and return for a third term in office. Meanwhile, AAP and Congress have announced separate candidate lists after seat-sharing talks between the two parties failed.

Interestingly, the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) led by Union Minister Jayant Chaudhary has not fielded any candidates in the Haryana Assembly elections.

Some Congress and BJP leaders have also entered the polls as independent candidates after not receiving tickets from their parties. Of these, several withdrew their nominations ahead of the cut-off date.

Candidate nominations for the Haryana Assembly polls closed on September 12, 2024. A total of 1,559 candidates had filed nominations for the Haryana Assembly polls. After the nominations were scrutinised, 1,221 were found to be valid, while 388 were rejected. At present, 1,031 candidates remain in the fray. Voting will be held on October 5, with counting to be done on October 8 along with Jammu and Kashmir.

We examine the parties contesting the elections, including notable candidates, changing alliances and efforts to woo Haryana’s voters.

Status before polls

The polls were moved from October 1 to October 5 after representations were received from national and state parties and the All-India Bishnoi Mahasabha regarding the Asoj Amavasya festival celebrated on October 2 by the Bishnoi community. A centuries-old tradition, the festival is celebrated in remembrance of Guru Jambeshwar and sees the movement of several pilgrims from cities such as Sirsa, Fatehabad and Hisar in Haryana to Rajasthan. The poll panel said the decision had been made “to honour both the voting rights and the cultural traditions of the Bishnoi community.” The vote counting was also moved from October 4 to October 8.

Voting in Haryana is likely to split along community lines. Historically, the Congress has relied more on the Jat community during the elections, while BJP has garnered more votes from non-Jat communities in the State. Of the overall population of Haryana, 22% belongs to the Jat community, a dominant agrarian force with particular dominance in central Haryana. This time around as well, Congress’ campaign strategy and candidate selection has leaned into support from Jats.

Meanwhile, BJP seems to be banking on support from non-Jat communities, including OBC, Punjabis and Brahmins, in Haryana to return to power for a third term. Earlier this year, the BJP selected Nayab Singh Saini, a prominent OBC leader, to be the Chief Minister in place of Manohar Lal. This seems to be part of its effort to shore up its support within OBC communities in the State, where OBCs make up 35% of the population. In a blow, former Minister and BJP Haryana OBC Morcha president Karan Dev Kamboj joined the Congress on September 13, accusing the saffron party of treating the backward community as a mere vote bank but not willing to give rights to them. This might hurt the party’s electoral prospects in the GT Karnal Road belt, considered its stronghold, comprising Kurukshetra, Yamuna Nagar, Karnal, and Panipat districts.

All major parties are also vying for Dalit votes in the State, which has a sizeable number of Assembly seats reserved for the Scheduled Castes, at 17. In the last Assembly elections as well as 2024 Lok Sabha polls, there was reduced support to BJP from the Dalit community, while Congress has seen gains. In 2014, BJP had won nine of the 17 seats reserved for the SC community, but in the 2019 assembly polls, this dropped to five. The Congress on the other hand, secured four and seven seats respectively in 2014 and 2019. Further, the Congress improved on its vote share among SC-reserved seats during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, with a post-poll analysis by CSDS-Lok Niti noting that a majority of Dalits in Haryana shifted from BJP-led National Democratic Alliance to the INDIA bloc. Seeking to capitalise on this sentiment, prominent Dalit leader Selja Kumari had been fielded from Sirsa during the elections. Observers however, had suggested that it would have been more advantageous to the party if she had been fielded for the Assembly elections .

In a previous interview with The Hindu, Ronki Ram, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Chair Professor of Political Science at Panjab University, said the narrative that the BJP could end the reservation worked against them, during the 2024 Lok Sabha election and was likely to hinder them now. “The Lok Sabha elections were held only a few months ago, and the narrative that the BJP could end reservation during the poll campaign had gone deeply into the minds of SCs, which is difficult to undo at this stage. The BJP is making a desperate attempt but it would be difficult to regain the lost trust,” he noted.

Another issue which is likely to impact polls is resentment over the Union government’s farm laws, now-repealed, which had sparked large-scale protests by farmers for over a year. This may have a bearing on BJP’s performance in the Assembly elections, as it did during the poll campaign for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Finally, the Agniveer scheme is a point of contention during the polls as well. In his first election rally in Haryana on September 17, Union Home Minister Amit Shah accused the Congress of playing politics over the Agnipath scheme, and assured the crowd that all Agniveers returning from the Army after four years would have jobs in Haryana, a claim likely to strike a chord in Bhiwani-Mahendragarh, which sends several soldiers to the Army each year.

In the 2019 Assembly elections, BJP had won 40 seats, while Congress came in second with 31 seats. The Jannayak Janata Party made a solid showing with 10 seats, and seven independents were also elected. One seat each went to the Haryana Lokhit Party and the Indian National Lok Dal.

Congress

In Haryana, Congress has relied on sitting MLAs, party loyalists and old faces. It has renominated all of its 28 sitting MLAs. With 24 Jat candidates, Congress has placed reliance on Jat community votes, with former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda being a prominent representative in the party.

Among the key leaders in the State, Bhupinder Singh Hooda has been fielded from Garha Sampla-Kiloi, State Unit Chief Udai Bhan will contest from Hodai, while deputy CM Chander Mohan is in the fray from Panchkula. On September 6, former wrestler Vinesh Phogat and Olympic wrestler Bajrang Punia had both joined the Congress party. Now Vinesh Phogat has been fielded from Julana.

Others Congress candidates include Parimal Pari from Ambala Cantt, Congress youth leader Sachin Kundu from Panipat Rural, Satbir Dublain from the Narwana (SC), Rohit Nagar from Tigaon and journalist Sarva Mitra Kamboj, who recently joined the party, from the Rania seat in Sirsa district

In a bid to strengthen party loyalty, seven relatives of party leaders have also been given tickets. Hisar MP Jai Prakash’s son Vikas Saharan has been nominated from Kalayat. Aditya Surjewala, the son of Rajya Sabha MP and congress Spokesperson Randeep Surjewala, will be contesting from Kaithal.

Further, Congress has fielded Sombir Sheoran, son-in-law of former Haryana Chief Minister Chaudhary Bansi Lal, from the Badhada assembly constituency, while former Haryana Chief Minister Bansi Lal’s grandson Anirudh Chaudhary has been fielded from Tosham. Pooja Chaudhary, the wife of Mulana MP Varun Chaudhary, has been fielded from Mulana. Chander Mohan Bishnoi, son of former CM Bhajan Lal, received a Congress ticket. Notably, Bhavya Bishnoi, the son of his younger brother Kuldeep Bishnoi, is contesting the election on a BJP ticket. Among other relatives, Karan Singh Dalal, the father-in-law of Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s niece, has received a ticket.

According to Balram Sharma, head of the political science department at the D.A.V. College in Karnal, while Mr. Hooda and his supporters garnered many of the tickets, those supporting Ms. Selja and Ms. Surjewala have also been accorded berths. .

Bharatiya Janata Party

The BJP is the current ruling party in Haryana, having been in power for two terms and looking to extend its rule to a third. It has faced internal conflict of late due to its decision to drop several sitting MLAs and replace candidates, having swapped out about one-fourth of its total 90 candidates to avoid anti-incumbency sentiments. Its list is dominated by OBC, Brahmin and Punjabi candidates, in keeping with BJP’s usual strategy on banking on non-Jat communities.

The MLAs who were dropped include two ministers — School Education minister Seema Trikha,who was replaced with Dhanesh Adlakha in Badkhal, and Health Minister Banwari Lal, who was replaced by Krishna Kumar as the candidate from Bawal. Kavita Jain and Ram Bilas Sharma were also dropped, as was State party president Mohan Lal Badoli.

Among notable party leaders, Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini is contesting from Ladwa. Against Vinesh Phogat in Jhulana is Captain Yogesh Bairagi.

Five family members of BJP leaders have received tickets. This includes Arti Rao, daughter of union minister of state Inderjeet Singh, from Ateli, and Shruti Chaudhri, daughter of leader Kiran Choudhary, from Tosham. Sons of leaders who are competing include Manmohan Bhadana, son of former cabinet minister Kartar Singh Bhadana, from Samalakha, Bhavya Bishnoi, son of Kuldeep Bishnoi, from Adhampur, and Sunil Sangwan, son of former cabinet minister Satpal Sangwan, from Charkhi Dadri.

The BJP has fielded turncoat Shyam Singh Rana and Ram Kumar Kashyap from Radaur and Indri respectively.

BJP leader Rajiv Jain, husband of BJP candidate and former minister Kavita Jain, had entered the contest against the party’s Sonipat nominee as an independent candidate but was persuaded to drop out by the CM. Similarly, the former Deputy Assembly Speaker Santosh Yadav entered the contest from Ateli in Mahendragarh district, but decided to withdraw, as did Ram Bilas Sharma, who had filed his nomination from Mahendragarh.

Savira Jain, mother of Kurukshetra MP Naveen Jindal, who did not get a BJP ticket, is in the fray as an Independent candidate in Hisar, facing off against senior BJP leader Kamal Gupta.

Aam Aadmi Party

The Aam Aadmi Party has also fielded candidates for 89 seats in the Haryana Assembly election. Candidates include Raj Kaur Gill from Ambala Cantt, Lalit Tyagi from Yamunanagar, Joga Singh from Ladwa, Satbir Goyat from Kithal, Sunil Bindal from Karnal, Sukhbir Malik from Panipat Rural, and Anurag Dhanda from Kalayat. Ahead of the deadline, BJP leaders Satish Yadava and Sunil Rao, the brother-in-law of actor Rajkumar Rao, joined AAP.

Star campaigners in the State will include Punjab CM Bhagwat Mann, new Delhi Chief Minister Atishi, Arvind Kejriwal, his wife Sunita Kejriwal, Saurabh Bharadwaj, Sanjay Singh and Manish Sisodia. Mr. Kejriwal, who has often called himself ‘Haryana ka beta’ owing to his ties with Sivani village in Bhiwani district, is set to start his election campaigning in the State on September 20. This will mark his first campaign after being released on bail on September 13.

In the 2019 Haryana Assembly polls, AAP had fielded 46 candidates but failed to win a single seat. It received a vote share less than the NOTA option. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, AAP’s Sushil Kumar Gupta— the State AAP chief— lost in the battle for the Kurukshetra seat. Seat-sharing talks with Congress failed to progress owing to this poor performance; AAP had sought 9-10 assembly segments in Haryana.

Notably, AAP may dent the Congress’ performance in districts of Haryana adjoining Punjab and Delhi. It has put forth five guarantees it will fulfill if elected, including free education, free medical treatment, and youth employment.

Jannayak Janata Party

The Jannayak Janata Party, which won 10 seats in the previous elections, has stitched together a pre-poll alliance with Aazad Samaj party. Among key candidates are Digvijay Chautala, contesting from Dabwali, and Dushyant Chautala, in the fray from Uchana. JJP has also expressed support to Dushyant’s uncle Ranjit Singh Chautala, contesting as an independent from Rania after being denied a ticket by the BJP.

Indian National Lok Dal

The Indian National Lok Dal, which had won one seat in the previous elections, has stitched a pre-poll alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party. Candidates from the party in the fray include four family members, including Sunaina Chautala, the daughter-in-law of the late Partap Singh Chautala, and a brother of INLD head Om Prakash Chautala. Also in the fray are the grandsons of the late Devi Lal, Aditya Chautala, Arjun Chautala, and Om Prakash Chautala’s son and INLD secretary-general Abhay Chautala.

The party initially also supported Haryana Lokhit Party. However, INLD secretary-general Abhay Chautala said he would reconsider his alliance with the HLP after BJP threw its support behind HLP’s Gopal Kanda.

Haryana Lokhit Party

The Haryana Lokhit Party had won one seat in 2019.

This year, HLP’s Gopal Kanda joined the INLD-BSP alliance a day after the BJP released its final list of candidates, which excluded his name. Mr. Kanda had supported BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. However, on Monday, BJP’s Sirsa candidate Rohtash Jangra withdrew his nomination papers in support of Gopal Kanda, and BJP has now thrown its support behind him.

Published - September 20, 2024 06:00 am IST