Haryana Assembly Election 2019

The upcoming Assembly elections in Haryana will see a high-voltage triangular contest between the three major parties -- the Congress, the BJP and the INLD-SAD alliance. The 90-seat state Haryana assembly, along with Maharashtra, goes to polls on October 21 and the counting of votes is scheduled on October 24. The last date of filing nominations is October 4 and the scrutiny will take place on October 5. The candidates can withdraw their nomination till October 7. Haryana has the strength of 90 seats out of which 17 are reserved for SCs and none for STs. There are 1.82 crore registered voters in the state out of which 1.07 lakh are service voters. The BJP, which managed to cross the majority mark of 45 in the 90-seat state Assembly on it own in 2014, is eyeing 75-plus seats this time. However, this time it will not have its ally SAD on its side, which has stitched an alliance with the INLD. Moreover, it has a problem of plenty in terms of potential candidates, mainly because it has been a recipient of several ‘turncoats’. Several INLD turncoats, the majority of them sitting MLAs, have been given tickets by the BJP. Among them are Ranbir Gangwa who will fight from Nalwa, Zakir Hussain from Nuh, Naseem Ahmed from Ferozepur Jhirkha, Nagender Bhadana from Faridabad NIT, Ram Chand Kamboj from Rania. According to news agency IANS, political observers believe that the upcoming contest between the BJP and the Congress is more or less one-sided as the former won all the 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana earlier this year, a first in the state's electoral history. On the other hand, the INLD, in its bid to woo the farmers in the state, has promised to waive loans up to Rs 10 lakh. They party also announced to implement the recommendations of the Swaminathan commission besides promising free electricity for agricultural purposes.