New Delhi/Chandigarh. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday released the second list of 21 candidates for the Haryana Assembly elections, in which tickets of two ministers have been cut while the candidate from Pehowa seat has been changed. The ruling party in Haryana has not yet announced candidates for Mahendragarh, NIT Faridabad and Sirsa seats. The party has bet on young leader Captain Yogesh Bairagi to contest against Congress candidate Vinesh Phogat from Julana assembly constituency.
In its first list released on September 4, BJP had made Kamaljit Singh Ajarana the candidate from Pehowa seat, but in the second list, Jai Bhagwan Sharma has been given the ticket in his place. The party had cut the ticket of Pehowa’s current MLA and former minister Sandeep Singh. After Ajarana was made the candidate, he had to face strong opposition from local workers.
BJP has also denied ticket to minister Banwari Lal and has fielded Krishan Kumar in his place. Sitting MLA of Badkal and School Education Minister Seema Trikha has also not been given ticket by the party. In her place, Dhanesh Adalkha has been made the candidate from this seat. However, MLA from Sohna and another minister Sanjay Singh has been given ticket from Nuh. The party has fielded Tejpal Tanwar from Sohna.
The ruling party has cut the tickets of the sitting MLAs from Ganaur, Pataudi, Hathin and Hodal seats and has expressed confidence in new faces.
Haryana BJP chief Mohan Lal Badoli had made it clear that he would not contest the elections and instead work to ensure the party’s victory. In view of this, Krishna Gehlawat has been made the candidate from Rai assembly constituency. Bimla Chaudhary has got the ticket from Pataudi (SC) seat. Gehlawat and Chaudhary are the two women in the second list.
Bimla Chaudhary replaced Satya Prakash Jarawat, whose ticket has been cut. Devendra Kaushik has been given ticket from Ganaur seat in place of sitting MLA Nirmal Chaudhary. In the list released by the party, tickets have also been announced for two Muslim candidates. BJP has fielded Naseem Ahmed from Ferozepur Jhirka and Aijaz Khan from Punhana. Pawan Saini, considered close to Chief Minister Naib Singh Saini, has been made a candidate from Narayangarh seat, while Satpal Jambha has been nominated to contest from Pundri. Yogendra Rana has been nominated from Assandh and Pradeep Sangwan from Baroda.
The party has given tickets to Manish Grover from Rohtak, Om Prakash Yadav from Narnaul and Krishan Kumar from Bawal (SC) seat.
The party has fielded Sardar Baldev Singh Mangiana from Sirsa’s Dabwali assembly seat. Digvijay Chautala of Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) is contesting from here. This is considered the traditional seat of the Chautala family. Digvijay is the younger brother of JJP general secretary and former deputy chief minister Dushyant Chautala.
The party has fielded Amir Chand Mehta from Ellenabad seat. This assembly constituency is part of the Sirsa Lok Sabha seat. This seat is also considered to be the stronghold of the Chautala family. After the elections held in the year 2000, this seat has been occupied by the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD). In the by-election held on this seat in the year 2021, INLD’s Abhay Chautala won.
In Julana, BJP has fielded youth leader and Captain Yogesh Kumar Bairagi, who quit his job in Air India and entered politics, against Congress candidate Vinesh Phogat, who came into politics from sports. Yogesh, a resident of Safidon, is currently the vice-president of the Haryana unit of BJP Yuva Morcha. BJP had announced 67 candidates in its first list released on Wednesday. Haryana Chief Minister and current MLA from Karnal, Nayab Singh Saini has been fielded from Ladwa seat of Kurukshetra district.
Of the three seats from which the BJP has not yet announced its candidates, senior party leader and former minister Ram Bilas Sharma is a strong contender from Mahendragarh. Gopal Kanda, chief of the BJP ally Haryana Lokhit Party, represents the Sirsa constituency for which the ruling party has not yet announced a candidate.
After the BJP released its first list of 67 candidates, the party is facing rebellion within its camp. Former minister Ranjit Singh Chautala and MLA Laxman Das Napa have left the party after not getting tickets. Some other candidates who were denied tickets have also raised the flag of rebellion.
The BJP, which has been in power in the state since 2014, is eyeing a third consecutive victory in Haryana, but is expected to face a tough challenge from the Congress. The Congress is trying to take advantage of the anti-incumbency wave in the state. Voting for the 90-member state assembly is to be held on October 5 and counting of votes will take place on October 8.