With the completion of the withdrawal of nominations by the candidates of various political parties and independent candidates on September 16, the stage is now set for an intense multi-cornered electoral slugfest in Haryana where the ruling BJP under the leadership of Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini is trying to score a ‘hat-trick’, and the resurgent Congress—out of power since 2014, is determined to claw back to power.

The main political parties -Congress and BJP are facing a major challenge from the rebels after several leaders who were denied tickets from the party decided to contest elections as independent candidates. These candidates are likely to affect the votes of both parties as some of the rebels enjoy massive public support.

In Congress, Chitra Sarwara, daughter of Ambala City Congress candidate Nirmal Singh, will contest as an Independent against her party's candidate, Parvinder Singh Pari, and former State Home Minister and BJP candidate Anil Vij, from Ambala Cantonment. The returning officer assigned the "whistle" as her symbol. Talking to reporters, Chitra Sarwara said, “Whistle is famous worldwide. Whistleblowers are those persons who bring forward the truth, and expose corruption. We were, are, and will remain whistleblowers of Ambala. All the corruption-related issues will be raised in Ambala by our whistle. Issues of unemployment, trade will be raised.”

It is not only anti-incumbency plaguing BJP in the State but party rebels are also affecting its chances in the state badly with leaders from party parting ways. BJP MP Naveen Jindal’s mother Savitri Jindal and former Power Minister Ranjit Singh Chautala on the last day of the withdrawal of nomination refused to withdraw their nomination as Independent candidates and will contest against the saffron party’s official candidates from Hisar and Rania Assembly constituencies, respectively.  Both had recently joined the BJP.

The two regional parties — the Indian National Lok Dal and its splinter group, the Jannayak Janta Party — which are struggling to stay relevant in state politics, have entered this poll in an alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Azad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram), respectively. The Congress-Aam Aadmi Party talks for an alliance failed to mature over the sharing of seats since leaders of the Congress in the state were adamant about going it alone in the elections. The AAP could emerge as a spoiler for both the BJP and Congress, especially in urban areas.

Haryana Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Pankaj Agarwal said that after scrutiny, 1221 nominations were found valid, while the candidatures of 338 were rejected. After the withdrawal of nominations across all 22 districts, a total of 1,031 candidates will contest the assembly elections with the highest 89 in Hisar district. There were 1351 candidates in the 2014 assembly elections and 1,169 in the 2019 Assembly polls.

During the single-phase polling on October 5, a total of 2.03 crore voters including 1.07 crore men, 95.77 lakh women, and 467 third gender will decide the fate of 1,031 candidates and which party will rule Haryana.  While the Congress is banking on an “anti-government mood,” the BJP is battling a strong anti-incumbency of its 10 years of rule.

Furthermore, on the last day of withdrawal of nomination, senior leaders from both BJP and Congress were actively engaged in persuading rebel candidates to withdraw their nominations throughout the day. However, despite efforts by the top brass, these two parties continue to face ‘rebel trouble’. Sources in these parties said that the Congress managed to convince 72 rebels, who were running as independents on 7 seats, to withdraw, while the BJP succeeded in persuading 25 candidates to withdraw from 6 seats. About 2500 candidates have applied for Congress tickets across the 90 constituencies of the State.

Haryana CM Nayab Singh Saini and State Party unit president Mohan Lal Badoli convinced Rajiv Jain in Sonipat, Bharti Saini in Narnaul and few other candidates in Karnal and Panipat to withdraw their nominations as Independents against BJP candidates.

Jain, former media adviser to ex-CM Manohar Lal Khattar, had filed his papers from Sonipat. Jain is the husband of Former Minister Kavita Jain. Sonipat mayor Nikhil Madan is the party candidate. On September 15, Saini and Badoli met Jain. Similarly, Bharti Saini, too, had been visited by the CM, who also spent some time with former minister and senior BJP politician Ram Bilas Sharma, who was denied a party ticket.

Another notable ‘success’ for the party was the withdrawal of nomination by former Deputy Speaker Santosh Yadav, who was a ticket aspirant from Ateli. The party has fielded Aarti Rao, daughter of Union Minister Rao Inderjit Singh from Ateli. Meanwhile, BJP election in charge Dharmendra Pradhan was able to mollify former Karnal Mayor Renu Bala Gupta after her husband was elevated as working district BJP president.

Meanwhile, prominent rebel candidates, who could upset the BJP applecart included Naveen Goyal who has filed nomination from Gurugram) while Devender Kadian from Ganaur, Zile Ram Sharma from Assandh, Deepak Dagar from Prithla, Kehar Singh Rawat from Hathin, Bachan Singh Arya, Jasbir Deswal from Safidon, Kehar Singh Rawat from Hathin, Kalyan Chauhan from Sohna and others. Besides, Nagendra Bhadana, who switched to the INLD after being denied the BJP ticket, will also play spoilsport for the BJP candidate Satish Fagna from Faridabad (NIT).

A BJP leader, on the condition of anonymity, said that even though the deadline for withdrawal of nominations was ended on September 16 efforts would be intensified to woo the rebels. Senior leaders are having connections with them. “We expect that a majority of the rebels should fall in line well before the election date of October 5,” he added.

For Congress, ex-MLA Jasbir Mallour, Himmat Singh, former Minister Sampat Singh and former Chief Parliamentary Secretary Ram Kishan Fauji withdrew their nominations as Independents. Former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and his son MP Deepender Hooda persuaded Mallour and Himmat Singh to withdraw their candidatures from Ambala City, while Sampat Singh pulled out in favour of Congress' Anil Maan in Nalwa, and Fauji from Bawani Khera.

Raj Kumar Saini, former MP and Loktantra Suraksha Party supremo withdrew his candidature from Indri following requests from representatives of backward community leaders. Talking to reporters, Saini said, “I am not extending my support to any party or candidate. My community had told me that since the CM is from the Saini community, I should not contest against the party he is associated with. I now hope that if Nayab Singh Saini becomes the CM again, he carries on my fight for the poor and backward classes.”

Sources said that the BJP is now facing 19 rebels across 15 seats, while the Congress has 29 rebels on 20 seats. This internal strife among party candidates could significantly impact the outcome of the elections. This means that both major parties, BJP and Congress, face challenges from rebels, which could significantly affect their chances on many seats in the 90 Assembly constituencies.

Political observers said that in the last Assembly election, many rebels of BJP and Congress had won the election. The withdrawal of nominations by several leaders of both parties is seen as a major success for the Congress party and a boost for their electoral prospects. But the dissidents and independent candidates will add an unpredictable element to the contest. The multiple factors such as dissidents, caste combinations, and anti-incumbency are poised to impact the outcome of the polls, the Observers added.