Chandigarh:

The Uchana Kalan seat in Haryana saw one of the fiercest electoral encounters with BJP’s Devender Chatar Bhuj Attri defeating Congress candidate Brijendra Singh by just 32 votes.

The margin of 32 votes was the lowest margin among the 90 assembly segments where polling took place on October 5.

The Jannayak Janta Party Dushyant Chautala who was the outgoing MLA from Uchana Kalan seat was at the fifth spot, as per the Election Commission.

On the other hand, Congress party’s Mamman Khan won the Ferozepur Jhirka seat in the Nuh district by the highest margin of 98,441 votes.

Mr Khan, who was the sitting MLA from this seat, defeated BJP’s Naseem Ahmed. Mr Khan polled 1,30,497 votes while his nearest rival got 32,056 votes.

Indian National Lok Dal’s Aditya Devilal won the Dabwali seat by 610 votes and defeated Congress party’s Amit Sihag.

Congress party’s Rajbir Fartia defeated BJP’s senior leader Jai Parkash Dalal in the Loharu seat by 792 votes.

From the Adampur seat, Congress party candidate Chander Parkash defeated BJP’s Bhavya Bishnoi by a margin of 1,268 votes.

BJP’s Sunil Satpal Sangwan won the Dadri seat after defeating Congress party’s Manisha Sangwan by a margin of 1,957 votes.

Congress party’s Chander Mohan defeated BJP senior leader and Haryana assembly speaker Gian Chand Gupta from the Panchkula seat by a margin of 1,997 votes.

The BJP emerged victorious in 48 seats while the Congress won 36 seats and was leading in one seat, according to the Election Commission.

The BJP is set to form the government in Haryana for a third straight time, bucking anti-incumbency and overcoming the setback in Lok Sabha polls when its tally dropped from 10 in 2019 to five seats.

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

New Delhi:

The Haryana BJP has expelled eight rebels from the party days ahead of the October 5 assembly elections. The leaders have been expelled for six years after they filed nominations as Independents, contesting against leaders of the BJP including Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini. 

A statement by state party chief Mohan Lal Badoli said the list includes former minister Ranjit Chautala, who had quit the post after he was denied ticket. Sandeep Garg, who had filed nomination to contest against Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini from Ladwa was expelled as well.

All eight have been expelled for six years.

The other six expelled leaders are Zile Ram Sharma, who is contesting from the Assandh seat, former minister Bachan Singh Arya from Safido, Radha Ahlawat from Meham, Naveen Goyal from Gurgaon, and Kehar Singh Rawat from Hathin and former MLA Devendra Kadyan.

Ranjit Chautala had decided to quit the party after he was denied the poll ticket from Rania, the seat he represented in assembly as an independent MLA. Having stepped down from the assembly before joining the BJP ahead of the May-June Lok Sabha election, he contested from Hisar but lost.

The Congress, too, is facing rebellion. Recently it expelled its rebel candidate Chitra Sarwara, who is contesting as an Independent in Ambala cantonment against the BJP’s former minister Anil Vij. On Friday, the Haryana Congress expelled 13 leaders for “anti-party activities” over their decision to contest the polls as independent candidates.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had taken a swipe at the Congress, questioning how a party that “cannot bring unity among its leaders” cant bring stability to the state.

“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,” PM Modi said at a Jan Ashirwad rally in Hisar city.

The BJP has been in power in the state for last 10 years and is hoping for a third straight term in the coming election.

Elections are due for the 90-member Haryana Assembly on October 5. The counting of votes will be held on October 8.

Jaipur:

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday appointed Satish Poonia, Rajasthan BJP’s ex-president as Haryana state in charge.

Mr Poonia has been amongst BJP in-charge and co-in-charge appointed for 24 states by BJP President J.P. Nadda. He has also served as the Deputy Leader of Opposition in the last assembly.

Along with Mr Poonia, UP Rajya Sabha MP Surendra Singh Nagar has been appointed as co-in-charge.

In the Lok Sabha elections too, the party had appointed Satish Poonia as the state election in-charge in Haryana.

Meanwhile, the BJP has not yet decided who will be the party’s Rajasthan chief as the name of the desert state did not appear in this list of 24 states, which was released on Friday.

Arun Singh served as the last state in-charge in Rajasthan and ever since his shifting to Andhra Pradesh, the position remained vacant.

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

New Delhi/Chandigarh:

The BJP on Friday appointed Lok Sabha MP Nayab Singh Saini, belonging to Other Backward Classes (OBC), its Haryana unit president in place of Om Prakash Dhankar as the party prepares for the Lok Sabha elections next year to be followed by the state assembly polls.

A party communication said Mr Dhankar, a Jat, has been appointed a national secretary of the party.

The appointment of Mr Saini, 53, a first-time MP representing Kurukshetra in the Lok Sabha, may help the party strengthen its hold among the OBC community as the support of Jats, who are the most populous community in the state, is largely seen to be divided among the Congress, Jannayak Janta Party and the Indian National Lok Dal.

The BJP is already in alliance with the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP), whose leader Dushyant Chautala is the state’s deputy chief minister.

Mr Dhankar was appointed Haryana BJP chief in July 2020 and completed his tenure in July this year.

Mr Saini, who has been campaigning in Rajasthan, is considered a confidant of Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar. He was also a minister in the previous Khattar cabinet and was a legislator when he fought the Lok Sabha polls in 2019.

In 2019, the BJP had won all 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana. with party candidates winning with massive margins.

“Congratulations to Nayab Singh Saini for the responsibility of state president”, the outgoing state unit chief Dhankar posted on X.

Shortly before the BJP central leadership appointed the new state unit chief, Mr Dhankar was asked by reporters in Chandigarh on Friday whether a change could be expected since his term as state unit chief had come to an end in July.

Replying to this, Mr Dhankar said change is a natural process in a national party like the BJP and referred to recent appointments in the party’s Punjab and Chandigarh unit.

No one is permanent here, Mr Dhankar, who is also a former Haryana minister, said.

A BJP worker is always prepared to take up any responsibility and role given to him, he said.

This is not a family-based party. It is a national party in which change from booth unit incharge to national president is a natural process, he said.

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