Haryana, J&K Assembly Elections 2024 Live Updates: Congress releases third list of 40 candidates in Haryana, fourth list of five candidates in J&K

Union minister Jitendra Singh on Wednesday lauded the Bharatiya Janata Party's manifesto for poll-bound Jammu and Kashmir, calling it 'inclusive'.
Speaking to ANI, Jitendra Singh mentioned that the manifesto is made in line of PM Modi's vision of Vikshit Bharat.

"Like PM Modi has said that to develop Viksit Bharat, women will have the same role, every citizen will have an equal role, an inclusive 'Sankalpa Patra has been announced."

"For Youth's coaching, Rs 10,000 to 20,000 have been decided so no youth feel abandoned because of their family's economic condition and I believe that is why everyone will elect BJP's MLA to strengthen PM Modi," he added.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday released the names of 30 more candidates for the Haryana Assembly polls, fielding Kavita Dalal from Julana against the Congress's Vinesh Phogat and the BJP's Yogesh Bairagi. After releasing the names of 21 candidates in the afternoon, the party came out with another list in the evening containing the names of nine more nominees for the October 5 election.

Bharatiya Janata Party leader Anil Vij filed nomination papers from Ambala Cantonment assembly constituency on Wednesday in the run-up to the Haryana Assembly elections.

Speaking to reporters after filing his nomination, Anil Vij exuded confidence in his victory, which will make him the legislator from the same constituency for a consecutive seventh time if he wins. Several state leaders of the party accompanied Vij during his nomination filing.

"The people of Ambala Cantonment are very intelligent. They have made an ordinary person like me win from here 6 times. The kind of enthusiasm seen in the people of the entire Ambala Cantonment today shows that this time too, the people of Ambala will make me win with more votes than ever before," Vij said.

J-K's Baramulla MP Engineer Rashid walks out of Tihar jail, day after Delhi court grants him interim bail till October 2 in terror funding case.

"I will not let down my people. I take a pledge that I will fight PM Modi's narrative of 'Naya Kashmir', which has failed totally in J&K. People have rejected whatever he did on 5th August 2019. I am committed to working for the welfare of my people. We are not going to get scared. My fight is bigger than what Omar Abdullah says. His fight is for the chair, my fight is for the people. I am a victim of BJP, I will fight against PM Modi's ideology till my last breath...I am coming to Kashmir to unite my people, not to divide them," said Rashid after walking out of jail.

"Congress government will be formed in Haryana. During the 10 years (2005-2014) of our government, Haryana has been a symbol of development. We will take Haryana forward," said Congress MP Deepender Hooda.

National Conference Vice President Omar Abdullah on Wednesday attended the nomination rally of the National Conference's candidate Nasir Aslam Wani.

On attending the rally, Abdullah said that it was a good start and was a good sign that people were joining the rally of the National Conference.

"This is a good start. We are happy that the people are joining the rally of the National Conference. There is competition and parties are ready to defeat the National Conference. We are praying that we win," he said.

Cong-NC alliance promises monthly benefits of Rs 3,000 to women heads of families in J-K; Rs five lakh interest-free loan to women. We will fulfil the promise of rehabilitating Kashmiri Pandit migrants made during Manmohan Singh's tenure. The alliance will provide Rs 25 lakh health insurance to all families in J-K.

The Jannayak Janta Party-Azad Samaj Party alliance released on Wednesday its third list for the October 5 Haryana assembly polls, naming 18 more candidates. The two parties have also decided to extend support on the Rania assembly seat to former minister Ranjit Singh Chautala, who quit the BJP recently after being denied a ticket. Chautala was earlier an Independent MLA from Rania.He had joined the BJP ahead of the Lok Sabha polls and contested from the Hisar parliamentary seat unsuccessfully. After quitting the party recently, he said he would enter the fray as an Independent again. In its list of 18 candidates the alliance released a day before the filing of nominations for the polls closes, the JJP has fielded 15 and the ASP three.

Grandson of former Haryana home minister late Laxman Das Arora and Congress leader Gokul Setia has approached the Punjab and Haryana high court seeking enhancement of police protection for himself and his family in view of the assembly elections in Haryana.

Gokul, who has recently joined Congress party, has expressed threat to life from the gangsters and hardcore criminals. Setia has already announced his candidature for the up- coming elections to the state legislative assembly scheduled for Oct 5. Setia had contested 2019 Haryana state assembly elections from Sirsa seat and was defeated by Gopal Kanda, sitting MLA by a meagre margin of around 600 votes.
At that time, he had contested as an independent candidate with the support of Indian National Lok Dal.

Setia’s maternal grandfather Laxman Dass Arora had remained MLA for four times and had also served as home minister of Haryana. Interestingly, immediately on his joining the Congress party on Sept 3, several pictures of Setia with gangster Goldy Brar had gone viral on social media alleging his closeness to the gangsters. Sources, however, added that the pictures were from 2009 when Setia was studying in a Chandigarh college.

Independent MLA and former power minister Ranjit Singh, who decided to contest the election as an independent candidate from Rania after not getting a ticket from BJP, has joined hands with his grandnephew and JJP leader Digvijay Chautala to ensure his victory.

Ranjit will help his brother and former CM Om Prakash Chautala’s grandson Digvijay in Dabwali assembly seat, while JJP will help Ranjit in Rania. Ranjit sent his grandson Surya Prakash to Digvijay’s nomination-filing event on Tuesday.

INLD has declared Abhay Singh Chautala’s son Arjun Chautala as the party candidate from Rania. Abhay is the younger brother of Digvijay’s father, Ajay Chautala.

Ranjit’s nephew Aditya Devi Lal Chautala is contesting from Dabwali seat as a candidate of Indian National Lok Dal. Aditya had been the president of Sirsa district unit of BJP and had also been the chairman in the BJP govt. Last time, he contested from Dabwali seat on a BJP ticket, but lost.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday changed the candidate for the Pehowa assembly seat which falls under Haryana’s Kurukshetra district, allocating ticket to Brahmin face Jai Bhagwan Sharma DD. The development took place after previous Jat Sikh face Kawaljeet Singh Ajrana backed down amid opposition from within the party.

Jai Bhagwan had contested from Pehowa constituency in 2014 on a BJP ticket. He left the BJP in 2018 and joined the Jannayak Janata Party. However, he again joined the BJP. For the 2024 assembly elections in Pehowa, the BJP did not go with its sitting MLA Sandeep Singh.

Former sports minister Sandeep is accused of sexually harassing a female coach. After the BJP’s first list of candidates, Jai Bhagwan was first among those leaders who sounded a bugle of rebellion.

Ending days of speculation, former minister Manish Grover was on Tuesday named as the Bharatiya Janata Party candidate from Rohtak assembly seat. Grover, who had previously lost to Congress leader Bharat Bhushan Batra in 2019, had re cently made headlines for publicly declaring that neither he nor his family members would contest in the upcoming election. Instead, he said he would focus on supporting the party. However, just hours later, Grover launched his campaign in Rohtak, indirectly positioning himself as the likely candidate.

In signs of Congress leaders still being unhappy with the party fielding Vinesh Phogat from Julana constituency, no senior or local Congress leader attended a havan yajna organised by the former wrestler on Tuesday to kick off her election campaign.

There were over 80 candidates who had applied for the Congress ticket from Julana, but the party went with Vinesh. However, since her ticket was announced, key local leaders of the party have been upset and have refrained from attending her programmes.

Disgruntled leaders are saying that the Congress ignored locals and fielded an outsider. However, Vinesh has been saying in her addresses that she is married to afamily from Bakhta Khera village of Julana segment. “I am a bahu (daughter-inlaw) of this area. I am not an outsider; therefore, I urge people to vote and support me, like they did during wrestling,” she said.

Pleading anonymity, upset Congress leaders said Vinesh had not been inviting them.

Union minister and Gurgaon MP Rao Inderjit Singh has thrown his hat in the ring for the chief minister’s post, publicly challenging BJP’s stand that Nayab Singh Saini will continue to lead the govt should the party get the mandate the third time in assembly polls.

Addressing a gathering of party supporters on Tuesday, Inderjit blamed the state machinery for the civic mess in the city and alleged it was being done to tarnish his image and weaken his position.

“Aane wale samay ke andar kaun benage chief minister isko nigah mein rakhte hue… kai bar sewerage se pani nahi nikalta, kai bar bijli nahi pahunchti, kai sadko ke upar mahino tak kachada pada rehta hai.

Aap se kaha jayega ki yeh Gurgaon ki safai nahi kara paye, sewerage ki safai nahi kar paye (Keeping in mind who will become the chief minister… sewage is not getting cleaned, power supply gets disrupted often and garbage piles up on roads for months. Then, you’ll be told he (referring to himself) failed to make the city clean and clear the sewers),” he said.

BJP on Tuesday released its second list of 21 candidates for the Haryana assembly elections, dropping seven sitting MLAs, including two ministers, replacing one nominee and pitting Capt Yogesh Bairagi against Congress’s wrestler-turned-politician Vinesh Phogat from Julana.

The party has so far named 87 candidates for the 90-member assembly, leaving out tricky seats of Mahendragarh, Sirsa and NIT Faridabad owing to heavyweights competing against each other for the tickets.
Two ministers — Seema Trikha from Badkhal and Dr Banwari Lal from Bawal — are among the MLAs dropped. The rest of the five are Satya Prakash Jarawata from Pataudi, Jagdish Nayyar from Hodal, Parveen Dagar from Hathin, state BJP president Mohan Lal Badoli from Rai and Nirmal Rani from Ganaur. Badoli had already announced not to contest the elections.

Krishna Gehlawat, a woman Jat face, replaced Badoli from Rai. Bimla Chaudhary will contest from Pataudi and Pardeep Sangwan from Baroda.

Dr Pawan Saini, a former MLA, was named from Naraingarh, an assembly constituency that was won by chief minister Nayab Singh Saini in his first election in 2014. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP candidate had trailed badly from this assembly segment.

Minister Om Parkash Yadav was fielded from Narnaul, Dhanesh Adhlakha of Haryana Pharmacy Council from Badkhal, and Dr Krishan Kumar, a former director general of health services, from Bawal.
From Pehowa, BJP replaced Kamaljeet Ajrana with Jai Bhagwan Sharma. The move was prompted following stiff opposition from locals against the candidature of Ajrana. He was named in the first list of the party as former minister and incumbent MLA Sandeep Singh was denied renomination. Ajrana had faced criticism and left BJP firefighting after his pictures with Pakistan Army officers went viral. His videos allegedly condemning PM Narendra Modi had gone viral too.

From Rohtak, BJP fielded Manish Grover who had earlier announced not to con test the elections. Cabinet minister Sanjay Singh will contest from riot-hit Nuh assembly constituency. In the rest of the two constituencies of Mewat, BJP named Mohammad Aizaz Khan, the son of former minister of home for state Sardar Khan, from Punhana and Naseem Ahmed from Firozpur Jhirka.

The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday fielded Captain Yogesh Bairagi, a former Air India pilot, as its candidate for the Julana assembly constituency, against Congress candidate and Paris Olympics star Vinesh Phogat.

The BJP declared Yogesh Bairagi's name in its second list for upcoming Haryana assembly elections.

Yogesh, 35, is known for his service during critical moments, including his involvement in rescue and relief operations during the Chennai floods and his participation in the "Vande Bharat" mission—a repatriation effort launched by the Indian government to bring back stranded Indian nationals during the Covid-19 pandemic.

With BJP’s Karnal district chief Yogender Rana being announced the party candidate from Assandh, party leader Zile Ram Sharma has expressed unhappiness.

Sharma’s supporters removed posters of the party from his office in anger on Tuesday. Presented his resentment, Sharma said, “The party has betrayed me. I will hold a meeting tomorrow and then take a final decision. MP Manohar Lal Khattar faced huge backlash and protests in Assandh, and it would have been impossible for him to win. He would have lost by 40,000 votes without my supporters.”

Sharma is a former MLA from Assandh and was associated with the Congress in the past. He switched to BJP prior to Lok Sabha elections.

A day after releasing its first list of 20 candidates, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Tuesday announced a second list of nine candidates, of whom six are BJP, BSP and Congress turncoats. Late on Tuesday night, the party released its third list of 11 candidates. With this, the number of candidates fielded by AAP in Haryana has gone up to 40.

The party is expected to release more lists by Wednesday. Thursday is the last day for filing nomination papers and voting will be held on Oct 5.

AAP national secretary and founding member Aabhash Chandela has been fielded from Tigaon assembly constituency. A graduate from Ireland, Aabhash was part of the India Against Corruption team which had protested with Anna Hazare in 2011.

AAP has fielded Rita Bamania from Sadhura constituency. Rita (35) had been an independent zila parishad member between 2016 and 2022. She is a JBT teacher in a private school.

The party has announced the candidature of Bhupender Beniwal from Adampur. Having made a debut in politics as a pick of Rahul Gandhi, Beniwal left Congress long ago and contested the 2022 byelection from Adampur as an AAP candidate.

On a day when BJP released its second list of 21 for the Haryana assembly elections, Union minister and Gurgaon MP Rao Inderjit Singh lashed out at the state BJP leadership on Tuesday, challenging the party's stand that Nayab Singh Saini will continue to lead the govt should it get the mandate.

The remarks came a day after he projected himself as the CM face at a meeting of party workers in Rewari. Referring to his latest victory in the Lok Sabha election earlier this year - which saw him being elected Gurgaon MP for the sixth time, besides being appointed minister in the Modi govt a third time - he said voters wanted to see him as the next CM. "It's the peo​ple who want to see me as chief minister. They have given their verdict through elections. Right now, Nayab Singh Saini's kite is flying high in the sky," he said in Rewari on Monday.

The Aam Aadmi Party on Tuesday released its second and third list of 20 candidates for the Haryana assembly polls, fielding former minister Chhatar Pal Singh from Barwala, a day after he switched over from the BJP. The party's first list of 20 candidates was released on Monday after seat-sharing talks with the Congress dragged on for days without much headway.

On Tuesday, the party first released a list of nine candidates and followed it up with declaring the names of 11 more late in the night. The name of Haryana AAP president Sushil Gupta was missing from both lists.

In its third list, the AAP fielded Pravin Guskhani against former Haryana chief minister and Congress veteran Bhupinder Singh Hooda from Garhi Sampla Kiloi constituency.

: Jammu and Kashmir People's Conference (JKPC) chairman Sajad Gani Lone on Tuesday said that the 'Azadi' sentiments in Jammu and Kashmir are not over and have "gone underground," adding that as Kashmiris, they can feel it.

In an exclusive interview with ANI, when asked, is the Azadi concept over?, the JKPC chairperson said, "No, I don't think it's totally over. It's gone underground, but it's scared. It was going until you came with a muscular policy. It was going to go away. It's going to fade for all time to come. Muscularity has given it a longer lease of life. But in invisible ways of life. It is there, but you can't see it. But we can feel it as Kashmiris. It's somewhere there. As politicians, we know it's... The tone of my interview should tell you that there is a problem."

Asked whether he thinks it is 'fragile peace' in Jammu and Kashmir, Lone said that "it seems so."

Haryana chief minister Nayab Singh Saini on Tuesday filed his nomination as BJP candidate from the Ladwa constituency for the forthcoming assembly elections in the state.

He filed his nomination in the presence of Union Minister and former CM Manohar Lal Khattar and other leaders of the party.

CM Saini while addressing media persons said that PM Modi will visit Haryana on September 14 for the election campaigning. He expressed his confidence and said that the BJP would form a double-engine government in Haryana for the third time.

After filing his nomination, Haryana CM Nayab Singh Saini said, "I received a lot of love from the public of Ladwa. This was a historic event of nomination where the whole of Ladwa was on roads to bless you. One thing that is assured is that the public will form the double-engine BJP government in Haryana for the third time. PM Modi will be arriving in Haryana on 14th September and we will offer him a rousing welcome."

"Omar Abdullah can see his defeat, that's why he is remembering Afzal Guru, the terrorist who attacked on the Parliament. What is forcing Congress and the National Conference to remember Afzal Guru? It is clear that they are losing this election so they are talking about such things...These are the parties that cause trouble...They are talking in the favour of terrorists, which clearly shows that Omar Abdullah and Congress and National Conference are going to face their defeat."

On Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi's statement, "Britishers have gone but left their mindset to the Congress people. They want to divide the nation on the basis of caste, religion or region. It's their strategy to go abroad and malign the country's image. Whenever Rahul Gandhi has gone abroad, he has always maligned the image of the country. Rahul Gandhi ji, this would do nothing. Taking funds from China and opinions from Pakistan would do nothing. The people of this nation will cast their vote and they have rejected Congress," Anurag Thakur said.

Ahead of filing his nomination from Ladwa constituency, Haryana CM Nayab Singh Saini says, "I extend gratitude to all workers of the party. I also bow before the people of Ladwa. Party office has been formally inaugurated today. After this, I will go to seek blessings of the people of Ladwa. The love and blessings of the people of Ladwa that I am receiving, is priceless. My heartfelt gratitude to them...People had elected me as an MP from here and now they will elect me as an MLA from here."

Congress candidate Vinesh Phogat on Tuesday exuded confidence that the people of Julana will support her in the Haryana Assembly elections and with their blessings she will emerge victorious in the upcoming elections.

"These people have made us win in wrestling and they will make us win (in Haryana elections). We have never been able to do anything without God and elders, even today I am nothing without them. I will go ahead only with their blessings...I am confident that they will support what is right, like they have always done," Phogat said.

Earlier today, Dronacharya awardee and wrestling coach Mahavir Singh Phogat said that he is "saddened" by the decision of the Olympian wrestler and Congress candidate from Julana to join politics, adding that she could have taken the same decision after the 2028 Olympics.

"She did very well in the Paris Olympics but got disqualified in the final. It is my personal opinion that she should participate in the 2028 Olympics. Gold medal is my dream; she did not get it but the people of India gave her immense love and they had expected a Gold from her. People were disheartened...The decision that she has taken, I am saddened by it that she had joined politics. But she could have taken this decision after the 2028 Olympics, it would have been better," Mahavir Singh Phogat told ANI.

He further said that Vinesh Phogat had no plans of of joining politics and contesting the election

"There was no such planning (of joining Vinesh Phogat politics and contesting elections) earlier. Neither Bajrang, nor she had this idea. I don't know how Congress did it but she had no intentions earlier to contest elections," he said.

Earlier today, Vinesh Phogat inaugurated tha party's election office in Haryana's Julana and performed the havan.

On September 6, Olympian wrestler Vinesh joined the Congress providing a big boost to the party.

Phogat announced her retirement from wrestling a short while after she was disqualified from the Paris Olympic Games after being found overweight by about 100 gm in her 50-kg category weigh-in.

Voting for the 90-member legislative assembly in Haryana will be held on October 5 and the last date for filing nominations is September 12. The counting of votes will be held on October 8.

In 2019 assembly polls, BJP became the single-largest party with 40 seats and Congress won 30 seats.

“We (BJP) will form the government under the leadership of PM Modi for the third time by making the ‘lotus’ bloom on all 90 Assembly seats (of Haryana),” says Haryana CM Nayab Singh Saini while addressing a rally in Ladwa before filing his nomination.

When asked if the party is contesting alone in the state, AAP Haryana chief Sushil Gupta told ANI, "AAP has issued the first list and the second list will be before you today, so you can make a guess..."

“BSF has been deployed here as it is competent to deal with difficult situations. I want to assure that the elections will be conducted very safely and fairly here,” says IG BSF Jammu Frontier D K Boora as he visited J&K's Bhadarwah to review security ahead of elections.

Moments before filing his nomination from Ladwa constituency, Haryana chief minister Nayab Singh Saini on Tuesday said that the love and blessings that Ladwa's public is showering on him is priceless. Exuding confidence, Saini said that earlier they had chosen him as an MP but now they will elect him as an MLA.

CM Saini also extended his wishes and gratitude to the party workers in Haryana as he inaugurated a party office in Ladwa.

Speaking to ANI, Nayab Singh Saini said, "I extend my wishes and greetings to all the party workers. I also bow before the people of Ladwa. The Party office has been formally inaugurated today. After this, I will go to seek the blessings of the people of Ladwa. The love and blessings of the people of Ladwa that I am receiving are priceless. My heartfelt gratitude to them. People had elected me as an MP from here and now they will elect me as an MLA from here."

Exuding his confidence, CM Saini said that the BJP will win all 90 seats with a huge mandate to form government for the third time in the state.

Haryana CM Nayab Singh Saini said, "Because the people of Ladwa have assured us and as their responsibility is bigger, and we have to go to polls on all 90 assembly seats. People of Ladwa will make us win here with a huge margin and outside too, we will win all 90 seats with a huge mandate and BJP will form a government for the third time."

Reacting to Congress' claims of BJP losing the elections, Saini said, "Anyone can make claims and all the parties claim as per their convenience, but Congress' claims are false and baseless."

Before filing his nomination, Haryana CM Nayab Singh Saini inaugurated a party office in Ladwa, Kurukshetra and took part in the havan rituals at the inauguration of the BJP office.

Voting for the 90-member legislative assembly in Haryana will be held on October 5, with the last date for filing nominations being September 12. The counting of votes will take place on October 8.

On August 31, the Election Commission of India (ECI) revised the polling date for the Haryana Assembly elections from October 1 to October 5 and moved the counting of votes for both the Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana assemblies from October 4 to October 8.

"We are going to polls on all 90 assembly seats. People of Ladwa will make us win here with a huge margin and outside too, we will win all 90 seats with a huge mandate and BJP will form government for the third time", says Haryana CM Nayab Singh Saini.

"AAP has released its first list, and today we will also release the second list. AAP will fight strongly on all 90 assembly seats. AAP has only one goal: to uproot and throw out this corrupt BJP government. BJP has turned Haryana into the crime capital," says AAP Haryana President Sushil Gupta.

CPI national general secretary D Raja asserted on Saturday that the BJP-led NDA would suffer losses in the upcoming assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana, claiming that the decline of the saffron party’s popularity among the voters began with the recent Lok Sabha election.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has disclosed its initial list of 20 candidates for the upcoming Haryana assembly elections, while maintaining dialogue with Congress regarding a possible alliance. Both parties aim to conclude their seat-sharing negotiations before the September 12 nomination deadline, ahead of the October 5 polls.

"In Jammu and Kashmir, BJP means 'rahat' (comfort) and NC-Congress means 'aafat' (trouble). The NC-Congress alliance can only bring destruction and miseries for the people of the Union Territory," Anurag Thakur told reporters.

"Only BJP can establish peace and ensure development," Thakur said.

He alleged that whenever the National Conference (NC) and Congress have come together they have brought destruction and miseries for the people.