The Election Commission of India (ECI) announced on Friday that Haryana will hold its Assembly elections in a single phase on October 1, with counting scheduled for October 4. The current term of the Haryana Assembly is set to end on November 3, 2024. The elections will cover 90 legislative assembly constituencies, including 73 general and 17 reserved for Scheduled Castes (SCs). The last Haryana Assembly elections were held on October 21, 2019.
Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, addressing the media in New Delhi, provided the detailed schedule for the Haryana polls, along with that of Jammu and Kashmir. The notification for the election will be issued on September 5, with the last date for nominations being September 12. Scrutiny of nominations will occur on September 13, and the deadline for withdrawal of candidatures is September 16. Date of the poll is October 1, and the date of counting is October 4, Kumar said, adding that the entire poll process will be over by October 6.
Haryana’s 2.01 crore voters include 1.5 lakh persons with disabilities (PwDs); 10,321 centenarians; 2.55 lakh voters above 85 years; and 459 third gender people. A total of 20,629 polling stations, including 7,132 urban and 13,497 rural stations, will be set up.
Kumar assured that the election process will be inclusive and accessible, with booths set up in multistoried buildings as well as in urban areas such as Gurugram, Sonepat, and Faridabad.
Political leaders welcome ECI’s announcement of poll schedule
Leaders of all the political parties have welcomed the announcement of poll scheduled in the State. Leader of the Opposition and former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said that the Congress party is ready and people of all sections have decided to bring Congress to power. “It is not me or anybody else but the people of Haryana who are thanking the Election Commission for announcing the Assembly polls because they do not want to tolerate this non-performing BJP government even for a single day,” Hooda added.
Senior Congress leader further said, “As far as the Congress is concerned, we are fully prepared. We shall soon be announcing our candidates. The Congress is going to form the government with absolute majority. It is going to be a direct fight between the Congress and the BJP.”
Union Minister and former Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said that BJP will register its victory for the third time in Haryana. Khattar expressed confidence in BJP's ability to secure a third consecutive victory in the State.
Criticizing the previous Hooda-led government for engaging in caste-based politics, Khattar said: “BJP will register its victory for the third time in Haryana. Hooda did caste based politics and the people of Haryana will think above caste based politics. In 2014, we talked about 'Haryana Ek Haryanvi Ek' and talked about ending the 3Cs — crime, corruption and caste politics.”
Haryana Congress president Udai Bhan said: “We welcome it and Congress is ready. Congress will form the Government with a two-third majority.”
State BJP president Mohan Lal Badoli, who was appointed to the post last month, said: “In 2019, we won 40 seats after getting 37 percent votes and this rose to 46 percent in the Lok Sabha polls in 2024. We only need two more per cent to form the Government in Haryana once again.”
Senior AAP leader said: “AAP party is completely ready for the Assembly polls in Haryana. We are continuously holding public rallies and addressing and a large number of people are attending them. Arvind Kejriwal is the son of Haryana, so the people of Haryana have an emotional attachment to him...AAP will strongly contest the elections in Haryana and will win it.”
Senior Jannayak Janata Party leader Dushyant Chautala on Friday welcomed the announcement of Assembly elections in Haryana by ECI and said that his party is fully prepared for the elections and will contest the elections with strength.
Locked in Five-Way Contest; BJP Facing Litmus Test to Retain Power for Third Time
This election, Haryana is likely to see a five-way contest between the BJP, the Congress, the JJP, INLD, and the AAP. For BJP, retaining the political power for the third time in a row seems to be a tight rope walk.
To finalize the poll strategy, the ruling BJP will hold a crucial meeting in New Delhi on Saturday. On the other hand, the Congress, upbeat after the Lok Sabha elections, has already started its public connect programmes led by Rohtak MP Deepender Hooda and Sirsa MP Kumari Selja. Apart from them, Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda and state Congress president Udai Bhan are also leading separate outreach initiatives.
AAP, whose campaign is being led by Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal’s wife Sunita Kejriwal, had recently announced that the party will contest all 90 seats.
Abhay Chautala-led INLD and the Gopal Kanda-led Haryana Lokhit Party, which has announced its support for the BJP, are two small parties that will be in the fray. The INLD has announced its tie-up with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).
In the recent Lok Sabha polls, BJP lost five of the state’s parliamentary seats while the Congress managed to regain five after drawing a blank five years ago. When extrapolated to the Assembly segment level, the BJP had the lead in 44 of the state’s 90 Assembly seats, the Congress led in 42, and the Aam Aadmi party (AAP) led in four. The Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) and the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) did not lead in any Assembly segment.
In Haryana, OBCs account for about 30 per cent votes, followed by Jats 25 per cent and the Scheduled Castes (SCs) about 20 per cent. In the caste politics of Haryana, the Jat support is largely divided among the Congress, JJP and Indian National Lok Dal (INLD).
The BJP will contest all 90 seats alone under the leadership of Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, Home Minister Amit Shah had announced in June. The ruling BJP is likely to stress on the “clean image” of Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini and his predecessor Manohar Lal Khattar as well as the “transparent administration” provided by the state government.
The party also has the added advantage of being in power at the Centre, which allows it to pitch to voters its “double-engine capability” — a promise of more development if the governments at the Centre and the state are run by the same party.
Meanwhile, a resurgent Congress is looking to cash in on the anti-incumbency factor. Bhupinder Hooda recently had said that there was no alliance between his party and the AAP — two major Opposition forces that fought the Lok Sabha elections in Haryana together. In the just-concluded Lok Sabha polls, the Congress has won three Jat-dominated constituencies — Rohtak by Deepender Hooda, Sonipat by Satpal Brahmchari, and Hisar by Jai Prakash; where farmers largely played a crucial role in its victory. The Congress has also won both the SC-reserved constituencies — Sirsa by Kumari Selja and Ambala by Varun Chaudhary.
