Haryana polls: Congress releases first list; Phogat to contest Julana seat

The Congress released the first list of candidates for the upcoming Haryana Assembly polls on Friday (September 6). 

Former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda will contest from his traditional seat of Garhi Sampla Kiloi, wrestler Vinesh Phogat from Julana, and state PCC chief and Hooda acolyte Udai Bhan from Hodal.

Incumbent Congress MLA Mewa Singh will take on CM Nayab Saini in the Ladwa constituency in Kurukshetra district. Before winning the Ladwa seat in 2019, Mewa Singh had last contested from the seat in 2009 as a BJP candidate and finished a distant third. The constituency has a sizeable OBC vote base, particularly from the Saini community, a fact that the BJP feels will make Saini's poll ride easier.

With the alliance between Congress and AAP collapsing,  the seat will see a multi-cornered contest between the BJP, Congress, AAP, INLD and JJP. In the recent Lok Sabha polls, AAP's Sushil Gupta, backed by the Congress as the INDIA Bloc joint candidate, had secured over 40 percent votes from the Ladwa Assembly segment in Kurukshetra Lok Sabha constituency. If the AAP goes solo in the polls and still secures a substantial vote share from Ladwa, Saini may benefit from a split of the anti-BJP votes.