Hours after joining Congress, Vinesh Phogat gets Haryana poll ticket from Julana

NEW DELHI: Congress released its first list of candidates on Friday for the upcoming Haryana Assembly elections on October 5.

The list comprising 31 names included wrestler Vinesh Phogat who had joined the party just hours before along with Bajrang Punia. While Phogat was given the party ticket for Haryana polls, Punia was named the working chairman of the All India Kisan Congress.

Olympians Phogat and Bajrang Punia, who were prominent figures in the wrestlers' protest against former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief and BJP leader Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh last year, pledged to remain fearless and committed to their cause.

The Congress list also includes current leader of opposition in Haryana Assembly Bhupinder Singh Hooda fielded from Garhi Sampla-Kiloi and incumbent president of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee Udai Bhan who'll be contesting from Hodal (SC)
The Haryana Assembly, consisting of 90 members, is scheduled to hold elections on October 5, with the counting of votes set to take place on October 8.

Meanwhile, in a key contest, Mewa Singh has been fielded from Ladwa to challenge the incumbent chief minister Nayab Singh Saini.

Other prominent candidates include Surender Panwar from Sonipat, Bharat Bhushan Batra from Rohtak, Kuldeep Vats from Badli, Chiranjeev Rao from Revari, and Neeraj Sharma from Faridabad NIT.

Concurrently, the Congress is engaged in seat-sharing negotiations with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for the Haryana polls. However, the prospects of an alliance appear uncertain, with both parties taking a firm stance during the negotiations. The two parties, who are allies at the national level and had contested the Lok Sabha elections together under the INDIA bloc, were exploring a "win-win alliance" for the state elections also. However, the two parties seem to have failed to agree on a seat-sharing formula amid reports that AAP wants to contest 10 assembly seats but the Congress is not ready to give more than 7."The talks are on the verge of collapse and AAP is planning to contest 50 out of the 90 assembly seats in the state. The party may announce its first list on Sunday," news agency PTI reported quoting AAP sources.

Also, some Congress leaders, particularly those aligned with the Hooda faction, have expressed reservations about forming a tie-up with the AAP, arguing that Kejriwal's party lacks significant ground support in Haryana.
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