Congress releases first list for Haryana polls, fields Vinesh Phogat from Julana

Wrestler Vinesh Phogat will be contesting the Haryana Assembly elections from the Julana seat, the Congress party confirmed as it released its first list of candidates for the upcoming polls in the state on Friday.

Hours after Vinesh Phogat and Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Bajrang Punia were inducted into the party fold by veteran leader KC Venugopal, the Congress released its first list of candidates for 31 out of the 90 Assembly seats in Haryana.

Soon after the first list was released, the Congress announced the name of one more candidate, Balbir Singh, from the Israna Assembly seat, taking the count to 32 so far.

Former Chief Minister and veteran party leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda has been fielded from the Garhi Sampla-Kiloli seat, while former Karnal Mayor and sitting MLA from the Sadhaura seat Renu Bala has been given a party ticket to contest the same seat again.

Badli MLA Kuldeep Vats will be contesting the polls to defend the seat he won in the 2019 Assembly polls.

Meanwhile, former MLA from the Radaur Assembly segment, Bishan Lal Saini, has been given an opportunity to contest the same seat again by the party.

Sitting MLAs Pradeep Chaudhary and Shalley Chaudhary have been fielded from the Kalka and Naraingarh Assembly seats, respectively. They won the same seats in the 2019 elections.

In all, the Congress has given tickets to 29 sitting MLAs out of the 32 announced so far.

Of these, only one candidate, who shifted to the Congress from another party, Ram Karan, has been given a ticket from the same constituency. He earlier represented Dushyant Chautala’s Jannayak Janta Party (JJP).

The party has also pitted Mewa Singh against Chief Minister and BJP candidate Nayab Singh Saini for the Ladwa seat.

The single-phase elections are set to take place in Haryana on October 5 and results will be declared on October 8.