The counting of votes for the Haryana assembly elections began on Tuesday at 8 am, with stringent security measures in place. The state witnessed a voter turnout of 67.90 percent during the single-phase elections held on October 5. Early trends indicate a close contest between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Indian National Congress (INC). Notably, BJP candidate Anil Vij is currently leading from the Ambala Cantt seat.
Haryana’s Chief Electoral Officer, Pankaj Agarwal, confirmed the implementation of a three-tier security arrangement at the counting venues. The process commenced with the counting of postal ballots, followed by the tabulation of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) after a 30-minute interval. Several exit polls predicted a Congress victory, but the BJP remains confident in its chances of securing a third consecutive term in the state.
The key players in the electoral battle include the BJP, Congress, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Indian National Lok Dal (INLD)-Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) alliance, and the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP)-Azad Samaj Party alliance. However, most seats are witnessing a direct confrontation between the BJP and the Congress.
Prominent figures participating in the elections include Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini from Ladwa, Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda from Garhi Sampla-Kiloi, INLD’s Abhay Chautala from Ellenabad, JJP’s Dushyant Chautala from Uchana Kalan, and BJP’s Anil Vij from Ambala Cantt.
Other noteworthy candidates include Capt Abhimanyu from Narnaund, O.P. Dhankar from Badli, AAP’s Anurag Dhanda from Kalayat, and Congress leader Vinesh Phogat from Julana. The Tosham seat features a competition between cousins Shruti Choudhry of the BJP and Anirudh Chaudhary. In Kaithal, Aditya, the son of senior Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala, is vying for the seat, while in Dabwali, Aditya Devi Lal, grandson of Devi Lal and INLD candidate, faces off against JJP’s Digvijay Singh Chautala, great-grandson of the former deputy prime minister.
The BJP has nominated Bhavya Bishnoi, grandson of late former chief minister Bhajan Lal, from the Adampur segment in Hisar, and Arti Rao from Ateli in Mahendragarh, whose father is Union minister Rao Inderjit Singh. The independent candidates include Savitri Jindal from Hisar, Ranjit Chautala from Rania, and Chitra Sarwara from Ambala Cantt. In 2019, the BJP formed the government with support from the JJP and independent candidates. However, the post-poll alliance between the JJP and the BJP ended in March when the BJP replaced Manohar Lal Khattar with Nayab Singh Saini as the chief minister.
