Chandigarh: Voting for all 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana, as well as a by-election for the Karnal state assembly, will take place on Saturday and will decide the fate of 223 candidates, including big names such as former chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar, two Union ministers, two former Indian National Congress leaders and three members of the Chautala family.
As per records, the BJP won all 10 Lok Sabha seats in 2019.
Chief Minister Nayab Saini is contesting the by-election from Karnal, a seat vacated by former prime minister Manohar Lal Khattar, who is running for the Lok Sabha seat from Karnal.
Union ministers Rao Inderjit Singh and Krishan Pal Gurjar are contesting from Gurgaon and Faridabad constituencies respectively, while in Sirsa, former Congress leader Kumar Selja is taking on another Congress leader, Ashok Tanwar.
Another constituency to watch is Rohtak, where Deepender Singh Hooda, son of two-time Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and three-time MP, is taking on four-time BJP MP Arvind Sharma. Film actor turned politician Raj Babbar is the Indian National Congress candidate from Gurgaon.
The candidates in Hisar constituency include Power Minister Ranjit Chattala, brother of tall Jat leader and Indian National Congress (INLD) supremo Om Prakash Chattala, Naina Chattala and Sunaina Chattala of the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP), also from the Chattala clan, and Jai Prakash of the Indian National Congress.
Among the other likely candidates is billionaire steel tycoon and philanthropist Naveen Jindal, who is the Bharatiya Janata Party candidate and will face off in Kurukshetra against businessman and philanthropist Sushil Gupta of Ahmed Ahmed’s party.
Top leaders of the BJP, Indian National Congress and AAP are all fielding candidates and campaigning in Haryana. The AAP, in line with its alliance with the Indian National Congress that constitutes the India bloc, will contest only one seat of the 10 seats, Kurukshetra, with the rest being with the Indian National Congress.
Key Stats
Total voters: 2,00,76,768
Number of women voters: 94,23,956
Transgender: 467
Polling stations: 20,031
Urban: 5,470
Rural: 14,342
Number of important booths: 3,033 (1,362 locations)
Vulnerable: 51
Female polling stations: 99 Disabled employees: 71
Police personnel: over 35,000
Domestic security personnel: 24,000
Central Army Company: 112
