At least 65 per cent of Haryana’s 1.83 crore eligible electors cast their votes on Monday to seal the fate of 1,169 candidates in the fray for 90 Assembly constituencies, where the poll battle was mainly between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), its arch rival the Congress and the fledgling party — Jannayak Janta Party (JJP).
Polling began at 7 am and continued till 6 pm in the State. The results will be declared on October 24.
Minor incidents of clashes were reported in district Nuh, Rohtak and Narnaul but overall situation remained peaceful during the voting.
Haryana Chief Electoral Officer Anurag Agarwal said that at least 65 per cent voting has been recorded in the state and the final poll figures are likely to increase.
In the 2014 Assembly polls, Haryana had recorded the highest-ever turnout of 76.54 per cent.
The Chief Electoral Officer said that elections were held peacefully in the State.
Agarwal said the complaints were received in some places about the problem of operation of EVM machines which was immediately resolved.
The places where the complaints related to EVM machines kept near the window was reported were immediately resolved and the EVM machines were removed from near the window, he added.
ADGP, Law, and Order, Navdeep Singh Virk said that the election process across the state was majorly peacefully except for minor incidents reported in some areas.
He said a total of 13 FIRs have been registered in the state after some complaints were received. FIRs registered included seven in Nuh, four in Rohtak and two in Narnaul area, he said.
At many places, great enthusiasm was witnessed among voters. From centenarians to youngsters, sportspersons to the general public, people queued up outside polling centres to vote for the 90 Parliamentary seats in Haryana, where the BJP hopes to retain the power.
Pink booths manned only by women staff got an enormous response in major cities like Karnal, Panipat, Gurugram, Faridabad and Panchkula. The pink polling booths had only women staff, including presiding officers, polling officers, micro observers and security personnel.
In an attempt to encourage women voters’ participation in the polls, the Election Commission had set up these pink polling booths, also called Sakhi booths with an all-women staff.
More than 75,000 personnel from the State and
Central Armed Police Forces were deployed to ensure that no anti-social element causes any trouble during polling in the state. As many as 19,578 polling stations and 153 auxiliary polling booths were set up in the State.
To cast his vote, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar first travelled by Janshatabdi Express from Chandigarh to his
hometown Karnal and then rode a bicycle to the polling booth.
On the other hand, Dushyant Chautala, 31, who is leading young outfit Jannayak Janata Party (JJP), a breakaway faction of the once prominent Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), reached the polling booth in Sirsa by riding on a tractor. His mother Naina Chautala and his wife were riding with him.
Wrestler-turned-politician and BJP candidate from Dadri, Babita Phogat, cast her vote at her native village in Bhiwani along with father Mahavir Phogat and sister Geeta Phogat. BJP’s wrestler candidate Yogeshwar Dutt cast his vote in Sonipat district and former Indian hockey captain Sandeep Singh from Pehowa in Kurukshetra district.
All the three athletes are greenhorns and the BJP has never won the seats from where they are contesting the Assembly polls. According to the Election Commission data, the constituencies that saw relatively higher polling included Tohana (80.56 per cent), Dabwali (78.20), Narnaund (77.75 per cent), Kaithal (77.79 per cent), Bawani Khera (SC) (77.71 per cent), Fatehabad (76.70), Meham (76.45), Sadhaura (SC) (74 per cent), Narwana (SC) (73.10).
In Karnal Assembly constituency, from where the Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar is seeking re-election, recorded a moderate turnout of 49.30 per cent. 67.10 per cent turnout was witnessed in Garhi-Sampla Kiloi, from where former Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda is seeking re-election.
Fewer voters turned out in Badshahpur (45 per cent), Panipat city (45 per cent), Faridabad (48.20 per cent), Karnal (49.30), Pataudi (SC) (50 per cent), Badkhal (51.30 per cent), Ballabhgarh (52 per cent), Gurgaon (51.20) and Hisar (53.80).
Meanwhile, leader Dushyant Chautala levelled allegation of “bogus voting” in connivance with a police official at a booth in Dumerkha Kalan village of the Uchana Kalan assembly constituency.
Dushyant Chautala, a former MP from Hisar, is in the fray from Uchana Kalan and contesting against sitting BJP MLA Prem Lata, who is the wife of former Union Minister Birender Singh.
Talking to the mediapersons, Dushyant said when he objected to it, an attempt was made to hurl a glass at him by some persons.
“When I said a woman’s vote was cast in a bogus manner, five to six persons tried to hurl a glass at me. I have complained to the returning officer concerned about the police official and others,” the JJP leader alleged while demanding that re-polling be held at the booth.
A scuffle between supporters of the BJP and an independent candidate over allegations of electoral malpractices was reported at a polling booth in Arjun Nagar, Gurugram.
In another incident, a woman was injured as clash took place between two groups outside a polling booth in Malaaka village in Nuh. A police official said that some argument broke out between a present Sarpanch and former Sarpanch after which some of their supporters accompanying them clashed. Stones were also hurled during which one woman was injured.
Meanwhile, Haryana Director General of Police, Manoj Yadava said that polling for all 90 seats of State Assembly was conducted in a peaceful manner.
All efforts to disrupt the polling process were neutralised as a result of energetic patrolling by the concerned SP, DSP and SHO coupled with effective action and decisive intervention carried out since early morning across the state, he added.
In Haryana, a total of 1,169 candidates, including 105 women and a transgender, were in the fray.
A total of 1.83 crore (1,83,90,525) voters, including 98.78 lakh males (98,78,042) and 85.12 lakh females (85,12,231), constituted the electoral roll across the state, which has a population of 2.53 crore (according to Census 2011). The total electors also included 1.07 lakh service voters and 252 transgender voters.
The political parties in the fray were ruling BJP, the Congress, the Indian National Lok Dal-Shiromani Akali Dal alliance, Jannayak Janta Party, Aam Aadmi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Loktantra Suraksha Party (LSP) and Swaraj India.
While the BJP, Congress and JJP are contesting on all 90 seats, the BSP is in the fray on 87 seats, and the INLD is contesting on 81 seats.
The political analysts say that the main contest is largely between the BJP and the Congress in the state. According to exit polls after the end of polling, the BJP is set to retain power with a bigger mandate in Haryana.
Notably, the BJP has set a target of winning over 75 seats in the 90-member State Assembly. Currently, the BJP has 48 members in the state assembly.
In 2014 Assembly polls, the BJP had won 47 seats followed by INLD’s 19 and 15 of the Congress.
Earlier this year in Lok Sabha polls, the BJP had managed to win all 10 parliamentary constituencies in Haryana.
