New Delhi:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi – fresh from celebrating a comeback win in the Haryana election Tuesday evening – was back firing barbs at the Congress this morning, accusing his rival of being an “irresponsible party” and labelling it a “factory to spread hatred”. The Congress, he raged, wants to “create fear among Muslims” so it gets minority community votes. “BJP has won the Haryana election… but in Maharashtra we have to get a bigger victory,” the PM declared as he launched his party’s next poll campaign.

The BJP’s “historic” win – it became the first party to win three consecutive terms in the heartland state – “shows the mood of the country”, he said as he inaugurated infra projects in poll-bound Maharashtra, where his party is allied with factions of the Shiv Sena and NCP.

“The Congress is doing politics of hatred… Congress is bent on destroying the country. We all have to be aware and cautious. I am sure the people of Maharashtra will give a befitting reply to all forces bent on destroying the society,” Mr Modi said via a video link.

“I am sure the people of Maharashtra will unite and vote for the BJP and the Mahayuti government (referring to the BJP-Sena-NCP trio headed by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde).”

READ | “First Time In Haryana Party Is Coming Back For 3rd Term”: PM Modi

Maharashtra (and Jharkhand) are scheduled to hold state elections this year. 

In the former the Congress’ poor showing in Haryana has invited scathing criticism from the Shiv Sena faction led by ex-Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, whose party is expected to sit down to discuss seat-sharing with its two allies – the Congress and Sharad Pawar’s NCP.

READ | “Arrogant, Overconfident”: Allies Twist  Knife On Congress’ Haryana Loss

The Congress’ Haryana and J&K results will not go down well in these talks.

Meanwhile, the PM also attacked the Congress for trying to “spread lies among the Dalits”, criticising the party for looking to “snatch reservation from them (the Dalits) and distribute them to their vote bank”.

“Entire ecosystem of Congress is about misleading the public. They tried to spread lies among Dalits but Dalits realised Congress will snatch reservations from them and distribute them to their vote bank. So Haryana Dalit community gave record support to BJP…”

READ | “Congress Minorities’ Biggest Enemy”: PM Flags “Key Issue” Of Quotas

The PM has frequently lashed out at the Congress on this issue – particularly in the run-up to the general election earlier this year – alleging it plans to tinker with existing quotas to benefit Muslims.

The Congress has just as frequently denied the allegation.

The Congress’ manifesto for the Lok Sabha election guaranteed increased reservation for marginalised groups, including Dalits, past the Supreme Court’s 50 per cent cap.

READ | “Its Best Friend…”: M Kharge On  BJP’s “Muslim League Imprint” Jab

That guarantee was slammed by the BJP as an “imprint of the Muslim League”.

In his speech the Prime Minister also accused the Congress of having “instigated” the farmers of Haryana, who joined their brethren from Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, and other states in their lakhs to protest against the centre’s farms laws and insist on legal backing for MSPs.

“Farmers of Haryana are happy with farmer-friendly schemes of BJP. Congress also tried to instigate youth. They all trust the BJP for a bright future… Haryana has shown they will not fall prey to the hatred conspiracies of the Congress and its urban Naxal allies…” the PM said.

With input from agencies

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New Delhi:

The Congress on Tuesday afternoon filed a formal complaint with the Election Commission regarding a delay in publishing the leads and results of the Haryana poll. In a brief letter the opposition party said that between 9 and 11 am there was “an unexplained slowdown in updating of results”.

“As you can imagine this allows bad faith actors to spin out narratives that undermine the process. You can see examples of it already playing out on social media. Our fear is also that such narratives can then be used by these mala fide actors to influence processes where counting is still underway, i.e., in most of the counting centres,” the Congress told the Election Commission.

“We request you to issue immediate directions to your officials to update the website with true and accurate figures, so that false news and malicious narratives can be countered immediately.”

Minutes earlier the Congress’ Jairam Ramesh said, “… we hope the Election Commission will answer our questions. The results of 10-11 rounds are out… but only four to five rounds are updated on the site.” He also flagged those “trying to build pressure by sharing outdated and misleading trends…”

The Congress had raced into an early lead in Haryana as postal votes were counted, only for the BJP to stage a thrilling comeback late morning as ballots were opened. The ruling party then raced into a lead of its own, which it has held since; at noon the BJP held 48 seats – two over the majority mark.

READ | Infighting To Jat Focus: 5 Factors Behind Congress’ Haryana Fail

Early celebrations at the Congress’ Delhi HQ ground to a halt as the party – which is set to win the first Jammu and Kashmir election in a decade – contemplated a third straight defeat in Haryana.

The party’s senior leader in the state – Kumari Selja, who is also in the Congress’ chief ministerial race – told NDTV the Election Commission will “have to answer” the question posed.

“Why is the counting going slowly? It was fine during the Lok Sabha election… so why is the counting going slowly now? It is the responsibility of the EC to tell the world why counting has slowed,” she said.

Mr Ramesh, however, insisted the party remains confident.

“There is no need to be disheartened…” he told ANI, “Mind games are being played. There is no need to be disheartened. We are going to get the mandate. Congress will form the government.”

The BJP’s Sudhanshu Trivedi responded swiftly, declaring the complaining meant the Congress had “accepted defeat”. “If Congress has started pointing fingers at Election Commission then we should understand they have accepted defeat…” he told reporters, “Per current trends I feel we are moving to an important win and Congress has started taking precautionary measures for future defeat.”

#WATCH | BJP National spokesperson, Dr. Sudhanshu Trivedi says, ” If Jairam Ramesh has already started saying this and pointing fingers at Election Commission, then we should understand that they have accepted their defeat…as per the trends going on, I feel that we are moving… https://t.co/fonKAxCzNjpic.twitter.com/mJFuJhufWA

— ANI (@ANI) October 8, 2024

The Congress had made similar complaints in June, when votes were being counted for the general election. Then Mr Ramesh implied the poll panel may have received “orders” to slow down counting.

In that case he had flagged apparent delays in publishing results for seats in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, which account for over 120 seats between them and in which the ruling BJP (and its ally, the Janata Dal United) was facing a tough challenge from the Congress-led INDIA bloc and its allies.

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Hisar (Haryana):

As the polling for 90 assembly constituencies in Haryana began today, Congress MP Kumari Selja said that the BJP is ready to welcome her because they are already “very weak”.

Speaking to media persons after casting her vote at a polling booth in Hisar, Ms Selja said, “Today’s fight will change the fate of Haryana. Although this is a one-sided contest… BJP is ready to welcome me because they are already very weak. They will do anything to have strong leaders with them… We will win all 90 seats.”

When asked about the speculations of a rift within Congress in the state, she said, “At the end of the day, our party high command makes decisions.”

Earlier on Friday, in an interview with ANI, she said she was a senior leader with enough weight to be considered a front-runner for the top post.

“See, that only high command will have to answer, they will only decide. There are a few people who would be in the consideration zone, and I think Selja would be there. Seniority mein, kaam mein, in sab cheezon mein nam aur politics aur ye political decisions ye toh high command dekhega (the high command would look at the seniority, work done, and everything else. These political decisions would be taken by high command,” Ms Selja told ANI.

“Toh aise mein Selja ko high command nazar andaz toh nahi karega (So the Party high command can’t ignore Selja),” she added

Over two crore people are eligible to vote in the Haryana Assembly elections today, which will decide whether the BJP will hold on to power for the third time or the Congress will return to power after a ten-year gap.

The Haryana assembly election is a high-stakes battle as the BJP is eyeing a third straight term to power in the state, the Congress party is aiming to wrest back power riding on anti-incumbency, and issues of farmer protests and wrestler protests.

The key contesting parties in Haryana include the BJP, Congress, and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), as well as the pre-poll alliance between the Indian National Lok Dal-Bahujan Samaj Party (INLD-BSP) and the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP)-Azad Samaj Party (ASP). Voting in Haryana started at 7 am and will conclude at 6 pm.

A total of 1,031 candidates are contesting in all 90 assembly constituencies, and 20,632 polling booths have been set up for voting. The results for the Haryana Assembly elections will be declared along with those of Jammu and Kashmir on October 8.

In the 2019 Assembly elections, the BJP won 40 of the 90 seats, forming a coalition government with the JJP, which won 10 seats. The Congress secured 31 seats. However, JJP later broke out of the coalition.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Jhajjar (Haryana):

Double Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker today cast her vote at a polling station in Charkhi Dadri for the 2024 Haryana assembly elections. After casting her vote along with her father, Ram Kishan Bhaker, she said that it’s the individual’s responsibility to vote in the elections.

“Being the youth of this country, it is our responsibility to cast our vote for the most favourable candidate. Small steps lead to big goals… I voted for the first time…” Ms Bhaker said while speaking to the news agency ANI.

#WATCH | Olympic medalist Manu Bhaker casts her vote at a polling station in Jhajjar for the #HaryanaElection2024pic.twitter.com/jPXiQ2zwJf

— ANI (@ANI) October 5, 2024

Her father, Ram Kishan Bhaker, also expressed his feelings after casting his vote.

“Manu is the brand ambassador and a youth icon for voting. She had to come. We vote in every election. How will our village develop if we do not vote… I would request everyone to come out and vote. It’s better to come out today than to curse the government for the next five years…” he said.

The Haryana assembly election is a high-stakes battle as the BJP is eyeing a third straight term to power in the state, the Congress party is aiming to wrest back power riding on anti-incumbency, and issues of farmer protests and wrestler protests.

The key contesting parties in Haryana include the BJP, Congress, and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), as well as the pre-poll alliance between the Indian National Lok Dal-Bahujan Samaj Party (INLD-BSP) and the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP)-Azad Samaj Party (ASP).

Voting in Haryana started at 7 am and will conclude at 6 pm.

A total of 1,031 candidates are contesting in all 90 assembly constituencies, and 20,632 polling booths have been set up for voting. The results for the Haryana Assembly elections will be declared along with those of Jammu and Kashmir on October 8.

According to Haryana’s Chief Electoral Officer, Pankaj Agarwal, 2,03,54,350 voters, including 1,07,75,957 males, 95,77,926 females, and 467 third-gender voters, will cast their votes in the Assembly Elections on October 5. A total of 1,031 candidates are contesting across 90 constituencies, and 20,632 polling booths have been set up for the election.

The Chief Electoral Officer highlighted that a total of 29,462 police personnel, 21,196 home guards, and 10,403 Special Police Officers (SPO) have been deployed across the state. Strict surveillance will be maintained at every corner of the state to allow citizens to cast their votes without fear.

Manohar Lal Khattar served as the Chief Minister of Haryana for around 9.5 years. He was succeeded by Nayab Singh Saini in March this year. BJP is contesting the polls under his leadership. Saini is contesting from the Ladwa constituency.

One of the prominent faces in the elections is wrestler Vinesh Phogat. She joined the Congress party on September 6, along with Olympian wrestler Bajrang Punia, following her disqualification from the women’s 50 kg final at the Paris Olympics.

The JJP-ASP alliance will contest all 90 Assembly constituencies in Haryana, with the JJP fielding candidates in 70 seats and the ASP in 20.

In the 2019 Assembly elections, the BJP won 40 of the 90 seats, forming a coalition government with the JJP, which won 10 seats. The Congress secured 31 seats. However, JJP later broke out of the coalition.

Dushyant Chautala
| Photo Credit: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar

New Delhi:

Congress MP Kumari Selja set the record straight Monday amid rumours she is sulking and has opted to not campaign for the Haryana election – because she was not allowed to contest – telling NDTV “there should never be any doubts” about her commitment to the party and state.

Ms Selja called herself a “loyal worker…good soldier” and said she will hit campaign starting this week, telling NDTV, “It was never intended I shall remain absent (from the campaign) throughout. I will campaign… because I am a party solider. I’ve always said I am a good soldier.”

She did, however, acknowledge “there are issues… serious issues” that need to be resolved. She did not provide specifics but said the Congress senior leadership “is working on” the problems.

“I made it very clear… even before the Lok Sabha election… I want to serve the people of Haryana as a legislator rather than MP. But the general election came first. So the party decided, I decided, we all decided, that I should contest that election,” she told NDTV.

“But that didn’t mean one can’t contest the Vidhan Sabha election… there can always be a bypoll for the Lok Sabha seat. But now that is a separate issue. I wanted to contest… party didn’t allow. That is ok,” she said.

She did, though, suggest her contesting the state election would have sent a “strong message” and that the Congress could have benefitted from her candidature, but waved aside any talk of infighting, saying, “… in any case, the party will form the (state) government.”

There were rumours Kumari Selja had fallen out with the Congress’ Delhi HQ over her desire to contest the Haryana election. The 61-year-old won the Sirsa Lok Sabha seat in the April-June general election but also wanted to contest the state election, a wish that was refused.

Had she won it would have triggered a bypoll for the Lok Sabha seat, and the Congress, it is understood, is unwilling to risk losing one of its 99 seats.

READ | “Always Possibilities”: Kumari Selja’s Signal On Haryana Top Job

A senior Dalit leader – who has twice served as a union minister – she was seen by many as a contender for the Chief Minister’s post, if the Congress were to win next month’s election.

All of this led the BJP to declare she had been “disrespected”.

There was also an ‘invitation’, proffered by ex-Chief Minister ML Khattar, who declared “any self-respecting person” in her shoes would consider their next steps. Mr Khattar’s successor, Nayab Singh Saini, then criticised the Congress for being “anti-Dalit… for not respecting Dalits”.

READ | “Only She Can Answer”: Khattar On Buzz Of Kumari Selja In BJP

However, speaking to NDTV this afternoon Ms Selja laughed off such talk and invited the BJP, instead, to “first set their own house in order”. “How much respect do they give (to Dalits) …”

Speaking separately to news agency PTI, she quipped “maybe the BJP is more worried”.

Talk of her jumping ship was also dismissed by the Congress’ candidate for the Uchana Kalan Assembly seat, Brijendra Singh, who hit out at the BJP’s “shop of lies”.

Voting for the 90-member Haryana Assembly will be held on October 5. Votes will be counted on October 8, with those from Jammu and Kashmir’s first Assembly election in a decade.

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New Delhi:

The Aam Aadmi Party has released a first list of 20 candidates for next month’s Haryana Assembly election, including naming 11 to contest seats against the Congress. A second list will be released soon, the AAP’s state chief, Sushil Gupta, said, suggesting the end of any alliance with its INDIA bloc ally. 

Last week Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s outfit was in ‘wait and watch’ mode amid stalled seat-share talks. The two parties reached an ‘in-principle’ agreement last month to re-form an alliance that stopped the BJP from a second successive clean sweep of the state’s 10 Lok Sabha seats.

However, talks hit a roadblock over the number of seats to be allotted to the AAP; the Delhi party reportedly wanted at least 10 but the Congress was only willing to give up seven. On Saturday the Congress’ state-in-charge, Deepak Babaria, said his party would offer only a “small number” of seats.

The following day the AAP’s Raghav Chadha spoke of “desire, wish, and hope for an alliance” from both parties, but warned a deal might not happen, saying”… if there is no win-win situation, we will leave it…”

Nevertheless, he said he was optimistic about reaching an agreement.

Chandigarh:

The rebellion and discontent faced by the BJP after it released its list of candidates for the Haryana Assembly polls have now come to haunt the Congress, with a senior leader resigning and announcing that he will contest as an Independent a day after the party unveiled its first list.

The Congress’ first list of 32 names included former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda from Garhi Sampla-Kiloi, new entrant Vinesh Phogat from Julana and state unit chief Udai Bhan from Hodal. Sitting MLA Rajinder Singh Joon was renominated from Bahadurgarh, prompting a rerun of a rebellion that the constituency had seen in 2019 as well.

Senior leader Rajesh Joon met his supporters and announced that he had resigned from all posts in the Congress and would be contesting from the seat as an Independent. 

“The Congress leadership cheated me. I was promised a ticket but the promise was not kept. I will become an MLA by polling double the number of votes that the Congress candidate gets,” Mr Joon said. 

Rajesh Joon and another Congress leader had also rebelled against the party after Rajinder Singh Joon was given the ticket in 2019. They had submitted their nominations from the Bahadurgarh Assembly constituency and had withdrawn them only after Bhupinder Singh Hooda had intervened. 

Buoyed after winning 5 of the 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana in the Lok Sabha elections, the Congress will hope that the discontent in the party does not hurt its chances of dislodging the BJP from a Hindi heartland state it has ruled since 2014. The party’s central leadership has also faced pushback after senior leader Rahul Gandhi pushed for a tie-up with the AAP to avoid the division of votes. 

While an in-principle agreement regarding an alliance had been announced on Wednesday, there appears to be a stalemate, with the AAP seeking 10 seats and the Congress willing to give up only five to seven. 

BJP’s Troubles

The BJP has also had to face dissent from its leaders after it released its first list of 67 names on Wednesday.  Energy Minister Ranjit Chautala and MLA Lakshman Napa quit the party after being denied tickets. While Mr Chautala has said he will contest as an Independent, Mr Napa announced that he will join the Congress.

Mr Chautala is the son of Chaudhary Devi Lal Chaudhary, one of Haryana’s tallest leaders, who served as chief minister twice and was also a deputy prime minister.

BJP MLA Shashi Ranjan Parmar had also burst into tears after his name had not featured on the list. 

Voting will take place in all 90 seats in Haryana on October 5 and counting will be held on October 8.

New Delhi:

Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini today made it clear there will be no change in the candidates’ list announced by the BJP for the assembly election scheduled on October 5.

The Chief Minister’s comment comes after the BJP announced its first list of 67 candidates, following which the party faced protests from minister Ranjit Singh Chautala and MLA Lakshman Dass Napa, who were not given tickets. Both have resigned.

Mr Saini said everyone should put to rest any speculation about tweaks in the candidates’ list. He said everyone wants a ticket, but the “lotus” can be given to only one person.

“It is natural for ticket-seekers to get angry. But they will be persuaded,” the Chief Minister said at a party meeting in Rohtak.

Haryana Energy and Jails Minister Ranjit Chautala, 79, son of former Deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal, said he took a decision after a meeting with his supporters and will now enter the contest as an iIndependent.

Former minister Karan Dev Kamboj also stepped down as the state BJP’s Other Backward Classes (OBC) Morcha chief after he did not get a ticket.

Despite Mr Saini’s attempt to downplay the events, former minister Savitri Jindal, who had quit the Congress and joined the BJP in March, days after her son and industrialist Naveen Jindal had also joined the BJP, said she will fight from Hisar, even as an independent.

After quitting the party, Mr Napa met former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda at his house in Delhi, and later joined the Congress.

“No one has left the party… Karan Dev Kamboj and Lakshman Napa are our senior leaders… we will make them understand,” Mr Saini said.

The BJP is aiming for a hat-trick in Haryana, but faces a tough challenge from a resurgent Congress which is looking to cash in on the anti-incumbency factor.

Mr Saini is the BJP’s chief ministerial face for the assembly polls. The counting of votes for the elections to the 90-member assembly will take place on October 8.

In Gurugram, after Mukesh Sharma was announced as BJP candidate, party leader and aspirant Naveen Goyal revolted and resigned. Mr Goyal, state convener of the BJP’s business cell and head of its environment protection department, has now decided to contest as an independent.

Along with him, more than 150 party officials and workers announced they are leaving the party.

New Delhi:

The Congress and the BJP both face hiccups in finalising candidates for next month’s Haryana election, sources told NDTV Friday, days after the former began seat-sharing talks with the AAP, seeking a revival of the INDIA alliance that won five of 10 Lok Sabha seats in April-June.

As far as the Congress is concerned, as it was with seat-share talks with other opposition parties before the Lok Sabha election, there is disagreement between state and central leaders. Congress leaders in Haryana are unwilling to concede too many of Haryana’s 90 seats.

Differences have also emerged, sources said, over which seats the AAP can get; some of those identified by Arvind Kejriwal’s party are those to which the Congress’ influential former Chief Minister Bhupinder Hooda expects to nominate his loyalists.

The Congress and the AAP announced an ‘in-principle’ deal on Wednesday.

This was after Rahul Gandhi urged his party to form an alliance with the AAP to guard against the division of votes. Mr Gandhi has been clear that it will take a concerted effort by the opposition to defeat Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP, whether in central or state elections.

In early exchanges the AAP wanted 10 seats but the Congress would offer five to seven only, with another likely to go to Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party, another INDIA member.

In the 2024 Lok Sabha election in Haryana the Congress contested nine seats (and won five) and left the tenth to the AAP, but Mr Kejriwal’s party failed to wrest Kurukshetra from the BJP.

Sources said the Congress has pointed to this, and that wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia will contest on its tickets, to claim it has the best chance of defeating the BJP.

BJP’s Haryana Election Issues

The BJP, meanwhile, faces internal squabbles after naming a first list of 67 candidates, with Jails Minister Ranjit Chautala and MLA Lakshman Napa quitting after being denied tickets.

Mr Chautala has said he will contest as an independent candidate, while Mr Napa met Congress leader Hooda at his residence and said he would join that party.

READ | Denied Haryana Poll Tickets, BJP Minister And MLA Quit Party

Ranjit Chautala is the son of Devi Lal Chaudhary, one of the state’s tallest and most respected political leaders, who was also twice Chief Minister and served as Deputy Prime Minister.

Mr Chautala was hoping to contest from Rania – the seat he won in 2019 as an independent but quit to join the BJP and contest the Hisar Lok Sabha seat, which he lost.

The BJP fielded Shishpal Kamboj instead.

Meanwhile, Karan Dev Kamboj has resigned as chief of the BJP’s OBC Morcha state unit after also being denied a ticket. “Perhaps the BJP does not need loyalists anymore,” he said, taking a swipe at the party for giving tickets to former rival leaders who have recently joined the party.

READ | On BJP’s Haryana 1st List – Jail Officer Who Gave Ram Rahim 6 Paroles

A significant name in the BJP’s first list is former prison official Sunil Sangwan – had who granted Dera Sacha Sauda chief and rape convict Ram Rahim parole a staggering six times.

When Is Haryana Election?

The Haryana Assembly election will be held on October 5. 

The election was first scheduled for October 1 but it was deferred by the Election Commission to honour the voting rights and traditions of the Bishnoi community, for whom a festival – the centuries-old Asoj Amavasya festival in remembrance of Guru Jambeshwar – is on October 2.

READ | Haryana Poll Dates Revised To October 5, Counting 3 Days Later

The Bishnois represent a sizeable voting community in at least three districts of the state.

Therefore, results for the Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir elections – the first in the former state since 2014 – will now be announced on October 8 instead of October 4, the poll body said. 

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