Congress first candidate list for Haryana Assembly polls OUT: Vinesh Phogat fielded from Julana

Congress on Friday released its first list of 31 candidates for Haryana Assembly elections 2024, hours after Olympian wrestler Vinesh Phogat and Tokyo Olympics medallist Bajrang Punia were inducted into the party fold by veteran leader KC Venugopal.

Phogat has been fielded from Julana, former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Hooda from Garhi Sampla-Kiloi and Udai Bhan will be contesting the Assembly elections from from Hodal (SC) constituency, while the grand old party has repeated Renu Bala—its sitting MLA from the Sadhaura (SC) seat—to contest the same seat again, similarly Bishan Lal Saini, the former MLA from the Radaur Assembly has been given an opportunity to contest the same seat again.

Congress has fielded Mewa Singh from Ladwa aganist BJP leader and Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini. The party has also fielded Surender Panwar from Sonipat, Bharat Bhushan Batra from Rohtak, Kuldeep Vats from Badli, Chiranjeev Rao from Revari and Neeraj Sharma from Faridabad NIT.

Earlier in the day, the Central Election Committee (CEC) of the Congress met in the national capital to finalize the first list for upcoming Haryana Assembly elections. The meeting was attended by Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, former party president Sonia Gandhi, party general secretary in-charge organisation KC Venugopal, All India Congress Committee (AICC) in-charge of Haryana Deepak Babaria and and former Haryana chief minister Hooda, among others.

It is important to note that the grand old party is also engaged in seat-sharing talks with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for the upcoming polls in the state, however, some of its leaders have expressed reservations over a tie-up with the Arvind Kejriwal-led party. According to these leaders, AAP does not have much ground in Haryana.

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.