Campaigning for Haryana assembly polls ends; BJP eyes to retain power for third term, Congress hopes comeback

Chandigarh (Haryana) [India], October 3 : The high-stakes campaigning for the single phase of polling in the Haryana Assembly elections concluded on Thursday evening, with voting set to take place for 90 constituencies.
As the campaigning for the Haryana polls ends, the BJP hopes to retain power for a third consecutive term while the Congress eyes a comeback after a decade-long hiatus.
The key contesting parties in Haryana include BJP, Congress, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), as well as the pre-poll alliance between Indian National Lok Dal-Bahujan Samaj Party (INLD-BSP) and Jannayak Janta Party (JJP)-Azad Samaj Party (ASP).
Voting in Haryana is scheduled for October 5 from 7 am to 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.
Haryana Chief Electoral Officer Pankaj Agarwal said on Thursday that over 2.03 crore voters in the state will be able to exercise their franchise in the 15th Haryana Legislative Assembly General Elections.
Agarwal further informed that out of 2,03,54,350 voters, over 1.07 crore voters are men, while more than 95 lakh voters are women, and 467 are third gender.
There is a total of 5,24,514 young voters, aged between 18 to 19, while there is a total of 1,49,142 voters with disabilities, out of which 93,545 are male, 55,591 are female, and 6 are third gender.
He further said that there are 2,31,093 voters above the age of 85 years, comprising 89,940 males and 1,41,153 females. Additionally, there are 8,821 voters aged over 100, including 3,283 males and 5,538 females. The total number of service voters is 1,09,217, with 1,04,426 males and 4,791 females.
The Chief Electoral Officer further informed that a total of 1,031 candidates are contesting in the elections, including 930 males and 101 females. Among these candidates, 464 are independent candidates.
The counting of votes will take place 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.
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 Ladwa constituency.
As 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 wrestlers protest.
Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in Haryana Assembly, Bhupinder Hooda, is contesting from Garhi Sampla-Kiloi.
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 50kg final at the Paris Olympics.
Vinesh was one of the leading wrestlers during the protest launched against the former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief and BJP leader Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh last year over his alleged sexual harassment of several women wrestlers.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday exuded confidence in the Bharatiya Janata Party winning the Haryana assembly polls and said that the patriotic people of the state will never accept the "divisive and negative politics" of the Congress.
In a post on X, PM Modi said that he has observed the enthusiasm and support for the BJP after travelling all over the state.
"The campaign for the Haryana assembly elections will end shortly. I have travelled all over the state in the last few days. The enthusiasm I have seen among the people gives me full confidence that the people of Haryana will once again give their blessings to the BJP. The patriotic people of Haryana will never accept the divisive and negative politics of the Congress," the Prime Minister said.
Prime Minister Modi addressed his first rally in poll-bound Haryana on September 14 at Kurukshetra. Thereafter, PM Modi addressed rallies in Haryana's Sonipat on September 25 and in Hisar on September 28. On October 1, the Prime Minister held his public rally in Palwal.
Also, on the last day of campaigning in the Haryana Assembly polls, former Chief Minister and Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda targeted the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and said that they have done nothing in the past 10 years except talk about the achievements of previous governments.
Addressing a press conference here, Hooda said that the state was number one in per capita income, law and order, and job creation in 2014, but today, Haryana is number one in unemployment.
"The law and order situation has completely collapsed, and crime has increased significantly. This was the situation before 2005 as well, and after the Congress government was formed in 2005, we told the criminals to either give up criminal activities or leave Haryana. My humble request to everyone is to vote and show this government the way out," he said.
The Congress leader further asserted that there is a strong wave in favour of Congress, and it will form the government with a heavy majority.
"Today is the last day of campaigning for the Haryana elections. Over the past 10 years, the BJP has treated people from all sections of society disrespectfully. The time has come to remove them from power. Under this government, 78 people were killed by police bullets, most of whom were from the Dalit community. Out of 40 people who died in Panchkula, 30 were Dalits," Bhupinder Hooda said.
"They have done nothing in the past 10 years except talk about the achievements of previous governments. They only spread false propaganda and have no real accomplishments. We worked to make farmers prosperous. Earlier, farmers were being exploited. In our term, fertilisers were cheaper, and diesel was cheaper. We brought the Land Acquisition Bill," he said.
Earlier, Chandrashekhar Azad, National President of the Azad Samaj Party, has stated that there is a "very good atmosphere" for the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP)-Azad Samaj Party (ASP) alliance in Haryana.
Azad expressed confidence that the alliance would achieve positive results in the upcoming Assembly elections in the state.
"There is a very good atmosphere among the people towards the JJP-ASP alliance, and the morale of our workers is high. Elections are won by those whose workers have high morale. This time, like last time, this alliance will deliver very good results," Azad told ANI.
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.
Meanwhile, Aam Aadmi Party convenor Arvind Kejriwal claimed that no government can be formed without the support of AAP in Haryana.
"No government can be formed in Haryana without AAP. It is my responsibility that whichever government is formed with our support, we will ensure that electricity in Haryana is provided free of charge," Kejriwal said.