Calling the Congress a “dishonest party”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday asked voters in Haryana to review grand old party’s poll promises in neighbouring Haryana, making a case for his party, the BJP.

“See in neighbourhood in Himachal, what they have done. During polls there, what all lies they spoke, you cannot even imagine and after coming to power, they are escaping from the promises they made,” PM Modi said at a Jan Ashirwad rally in Hisar city.

“People are now telling Congress “Kya hua tera vada (What happened to your promise)”. Congress is asking people “tum kaun (who are you)”, said the Prime Minister during his third poll rally in the state.

“Delhi’s royal family trapped people of Himachal in their lies. Today, they don’t have budget to pay salaries and DA to employees in Himachal,” the Prime Minister said attacking the Congress.

Two months ago, during a session of the state Assembly, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu acknowledged the state’s financial struggles, announcing a two-month deferment of salaries for himself, ministers, Chief Parliamentary Secretaries (CPS), and MLAs. However, he later claimed there was no financial crisis, contradicting his earlier statement.

Earlier this month, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu told the state Assembly that the delay was part of the government’s attempt to enforce fiscal prudence and financial discipline. he further said promised that salaries would be paid on the 1st of the month from the next cycle.

Rahul Gandhi, at the manifesto launch in Delhi today, said the Congress’ “incoming government” in Haryana will end “the decade of pain” and the party has resolved to fulfill the hopes and aspirations of the people of the state.

A commission for the farmers’ welfare, Rs 2 crore for the families of soldiers killed in action, promoting labour-intensive units for generating employment and reconstitution of the Haryana Minority Commission are among the Congress’ poll promises.

The Prime Minister also accused the Congress of speaking lies on Minimum Support Price or MSP of crops and said the BJP government in the state was procuring 24 crops on minimum support price.

“In Congress-ruled states, only one or two crops are purchased on MSP. Can farmers trust such deceitful Congress. Haryana has faith only on BJP,” he said.

Pitching for “non-stop” Haryana, PM Modi said people have decided to bring BJP to power in the state for third successive term.

PM Modi further claimed that stability is a far-fetched thing for the Congress because of its infighting and now everyone in the party is jostling among themselves to become chief minister in Haryana with “Bapu” (Bhupinder Singh Hooda) and “Beta” (Deepender Hooda) also the contenders.

“Where there is Congress, there can never be stability. How can a party that cannot bring unity among its leaders bring stability in the state? There is a fight going on within the Congress as to who will become the Chief Minister, The father is a claimant, the son is also a claimant. Both of them are together trying to deal with the rest,” said the Prime Minister.

The voting for the 90-member assembly will take place on October 5. The votes will be counted on October 8.

 

New Delhi:

The Aam Aadmi Party late Tuesday released its third list of 11 candidates for the Haryana assembly polls.

Earlier in the day, the party released its second list of nine candidates. The name of Haryana AAP president Sushil Gupta was missing from both lists.

The AAP’s first list of 20 candidates was released on Monday as seat-sharing talks with the Congress broke down.

The party has so far declared its candidates on 40 of the 90-member Haryana Assembly.

In its third list, the AAP fielded Pravin Guskhani against former Haryana chief minister and Congress veteran Bhupinder Singh Hooda from Garhi Sampla-Kiloi constituency.

The others include Bheem Singh Rathi from Radaur, Amar Singh from Nilokheri, Amit Kumar from Israna, Mahender Dahiya from Jhajjar, Satish Yadav from Rewari, and Col (retd) Rajendra Rawat from Hathin.

The last date for filing nomination papers is September 12. The 90-member assembly is scheduled to go to polls on October 5.

The Congress and the AAP fought the Lok Sabha polls together in Delhi while they had contested separately in Punjab.

In the LS general election, the Congress had given one seat to the AAP in Haryana, which it had contested unsuccessfully.

In the 2019 Haryana polls, the AAP had contested 46 seats but failed to win a single seat.

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

New Delhi:

The Congress on Sunday released a list of nine candidates for the Haryana Assembly polls, fielding Brijendra Singh from Uchana Kalan and Mohit Grover from Gurugram.

With this list, the Congress has declared a total of 41 candidates for polls to the 90-member assembly.

Besides Brijendra Singh and Grover, the Congress fielded Ashok Arora from Thanesar, Kuldeep Sharma from Ganaur, Paramvir Singh from Tohana, Anirudh Chaudhary from Tosham, Balram Dangi from Meham, Manju Choudhary from Nangal Chaudhary and Vardhan Yadav from Badshahpur.

The Congress on Friday declared 32 candidates for the polls, fielding former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda from Garhi Sampla-Kiloi, state unit chief Udai Bhan from Hodal and wrestler Vinesh Phogat from Julana.

The party had first released a list of 31 candidates and a little later, in a statement, said the CEC had approved the candidature of Balbir Singh from the Israna (reserved for the Scheduled Castes) constituency.

Balbir Singh is the incumbent MLA from Israna.

The grand old party has renominated all its 28 MLAs.

Besides Hooda, Bhan and Phogat, the Congress has also fielded Mewa Singh from Ladwa to take on Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini.

The Congress is also engaged in seat-sharing talks with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for the Haryana polls, with hard bargaining going on from both sides.

Some Congress leaders have expressed reservations over a tie-up with the Arvind Kejriwal-led party.

The 90-member Haryana Assembly is scheduled to go to polls on October 5 and the counting of votes will be undertaken on October 8. 

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

New Delhi:

In a major development, Olympian wrestler Bajrang Punia was appointed the Working Chairman of the All India Kisan Congress on Friday.

“Hon’ble Congress President has approved the proposal of the appointment of Shri Bajrang Punia as the Working Chairman of All India Kisan Congress with immediate effect,” read the official letter issued by Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal.

Thanking Congress President Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, and K.C. Venugopal for the new role assigned to him, the Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist said in a post on X: “I would like to thank our President Mr. @kharge, Leader of the Opposition @RahulGandhi, and @kcvenugopalmp for entrusting me with this significant responsibility. I will strive to stand shoulder to shoulder with farmers facing crises, supporting their struggles, and work as a dedicated soldier of the organisation. Jai Kisan.”

The appointment, which followed Punia and his fellow wrestler Vinesh Phogat joining the Congress on Friday afternoon, is being seen as a significant move in light of the upcoming Assembly elections in Haryana scheduled on October 5.

The grappler duo met Congress President Kharge at his residence on Friday afternoon before formally joining the party at its headquarters in Delhi.

“Chak de India, Chak de Haryana! Met our talented champions Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia, who have made India proud in the world, at 10, Rajaji Marg. We are proud of both of you,” Kharge posted on X after the meeting.

Both the Olympians, who were prominent faces of last year’s protests against alleged sexual assault and intimidation of female wrestlers by ex-Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, had met Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, on Wednesday.

Speaking at the party office after joining the Congress, Phogat said it is only when times are bad that people know who is really standing with them.

Punia said the Congress backed the wrestlers during their protest without even being asked to do so, while the BJP MPs ignored the letters seeking their support.

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

Chandigarh:

Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini will contest the upcoming Haryana Assembly polls from Ladwa in Kurukshetra district, state BJP chief Mohan Lal Badoli said on Friday.

However, on the sidelines of his roadshow in Karnal in the evening, when reporters asked Mr Saini who will be the BJP candidate from Karnal, the chief minister said, “I will contest the election from Karnal also, why are you worried?” Asked if he will file nominations from two seats, Mr Saini evaded a direct reply, saying, “I will fight the election from Karnal.” The ruling BJP is expected to release its first list of candidates for the October 1 polls by Sunday.

Earlier in the day, asked from where Mr Saini would contest the election, Mr Badoli said, “The chief minister will be fielded from Ladwa.” Mr Saini, who represents Karnal in the Haryana Assembly, was the member of Parliament from Kurukshetra between 2019 and 2024.

Talking to reporters in Delhi, Mr Badoli did not divulge if Saini would also contest the election from Karnal.

The Ladwa Assembly seat is currently held by the Congress’s Mewa Singh.

When reporters in Karnal asked Mr Saini whether he will contest the upcoming polls from Ladwa, the chief minister quipped, “Who said so?” When he was told that Mr Badoli has said so, the chief minister asked, “When did he say this?” As reporters told him that Mr Badoli has said he will fight the election from Ladwa, Mr Saini said, “He is the state BJP chief. He has more information than me.” The chief minister clarified that the final decision on the candidates will be taken by the party’s central leadership.

The BJP’s Central Election Committee (CEC) met in Delhi on Thursday to finalise the candidates for the polls in Haryana, where the saffron party is eyeing a third consecutive term.

Mr Badoli, the MLA from Rai in Sonipat, also said he would not contest the election.

After another round of meetings, the first list of candidates is expected to be out soon, he added.

Mr Badoli said there has been no discussion regarding stitching up an alliance with any other political party and asserted that the BJP would form the government with a clear majority.

Mr Badoli, who took charge of the Haryana BJP in July, said discussions were held at the CEC meeting on the names of candidates from all seats and added that another meeting would take place in two days.

In March, the BJP replaced Manohar Lal Khattar as the Haryana chief minister with Mr Saini, an Other Backward Classes (OBC) leader. Mr Khattar, who won the Lok Sabha polls from Karnal, is a Union minister now.

At the time of replacing Mr Khattar, Mr Saini was the Haryana BJP chief and the party’s MP from Kurukshetra. He subsequently won the bypoll from the Karnal Assembly seat vacated by Mr Khattar.

Mr Saini had won the Assembly polls from the Naraingarh seat in Ambala district when BJP stormed to power in Haryana in 2014.

The 90-member Haryana Assembly is scheduled to go to polls on October 1 and the counting of votes will be taken up on October 4. 

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