Haryana Election 2024: Congress candidate and wrestler Vinesh Phogat urged people on Saturday to vote for the party that works for rights of women. Her statement came as the Haryana went to polls on Saturday, October 5. Phogat is the Congress candidate from Julana Assembly Constituency.
After casting her vote in Charkhi Dadri, Phogat said, “It is a huge festival for Haryana and a very big day for the people of the state. I am making an appeal to the people of the state to come out and cast their votes. 10 years ago, when Bhupinder Hooda was the chief minister, the level of sports in the state was really good.”
Vinesh Phogat urged people to “vote for the party that works for rights of women, you all know which party I am speaking of.” Phogat was quoted by news agency ANI as saying, “Hope of victory is always there, today is the day to vote. People have not forgotten what the BJP did to the farmers and others.”
When asked if she hopes to be a minister in Haryana, Phogat said, “It is not in my hands [to become a minister], it is in the hands of the high command...”. She added, “I don't want to be limited to Julana but work for the entire state…”
The Haryana Assembly Election is a high-stakes battle as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is eyeing a third straight term to power in the state, the Congress 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 will be held 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. The results for the Haryana Assembly elections will be declared along with those of Jammu and Kashmir on October 8.
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. (ANI)
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