Haryana Assembly elections: BJP fields ex-jail superintendent linked to Ram Rahim’s parole
Chandigarh: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday announced its first list of 67 candidates for the upcoming Haryana Assembly elections, naming Sunil Sangwan, a former jail superintendent, as its candidate for the Charkhi Dadri constituency. Sangwan, who is the son of former Haryana minister Satpal Sangwan, served as the superintendent of Haryana’s Sunaria jail during six of the ten occasions when Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was granted parole or furlough.
Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2017 for the rape of two women followers. In 2021, he received a life sentence for the murder of Ranjit Singh, a former manager of his sect.
In related developments, Haryana minister Ranjit Singh Chautala and MLA Lakshman Napa resigned from the BJP on Thursday after being excluded from the candidate list. Chautala, who held the energy and jails portfolios, announced his intention to contest the elections as an independent candidate. Chautala, the son of former Deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal, had previously won the 2019 elections as an independent and later joined the BJP. He had contested the recent Lok Sabha elections from Hisar on a BJP ticket but lost to the Congress candidate.
Meanwhile, Napa, who represents the Ratia constituency, announced his plans to join the Congress after visiting former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. The BJP has fielded former Sirsa MP Sunita Duggal as its candidate for Ratia.
Additionally, former minister Karan Dev Kamboj resigned as the chief of Haryana BJP’s Other Backward Classes Morcha after being left out of the candidate list. He expressed disappointment, stating that his years of dedicated service to the party had been overlooked.
Haryana is set to go to the polls on October 5, with vote counting scheduled for October 8, coinciding with the counting in Jammu and Kashmir.
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Kerala polls: ‘People rejected 10 years of misrule’, says AICC gen secy
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): AICC General Secretary K C Venugopal on Monday said the Congress-led UDF’s sweeping victory in the Kerala Assembly polls was a clear verdict against the “arrogance”, corruption, and nepotism of the CPI(M)-led LDF government headed by CM Pinarayi Vijayan.
Addressing a press conference as counting of votes for all 140 Assembly constituencies neared completion, Venugopal said the outcome reflected public anger against what he termed “10 years of misrule” by the Left government.
He claimed that Vijayan’s victory in his home constituency, Dharmadam, was “only technical”, alleging that the CM trailed the UDF candidate in the initial rounds of counting and failed to secure a majority in his own village.
“He just escaped. He suffered a setback even in his home turf. He was the only person who did not realise the people’s mood in this election,” Venugopal said.
Alleging that the CPI(M) and the LDF had resorted to “communal and opportunistic politics”, he further claimed that the ruling front had entered into a “secret understanding” with the BJP in a bid to retain power for a third consecutive term.
He said that when a government driven by power and arrogance attempts to align with anyone to stay in office, even its own cadre turns against it.
Referring to the results, Venugopal said that while the UDF expected rebel CPI(M) leaders, including K Kunhikrishnan in Payyannur, to impact the vote share, their victories came as a surprise.
Describing the UDF’s performance as a “historic victory”, he attributed it to coordinated teamwork, grassroots mobilisation, and the dedication of party workers, adding that the alliance accepted the mandate “with humility”.
Venugopal also credited Rahul Gandhi’s campaign guarantees, calling them a “trump card” that helped voters focus on real issues and reject what he described as the LDF’s “false narratives”.
He claimed that the Congress witnessed one of its lowest levels of rebellion in this election, which contributed to the alliance’s strong performance.
The senior Congress leader further alleged that the BJP managed to win two seats with the help of the CPI(M), and asserted that forces attempting to divide society on communal lines should “learn a lesson” from Kerala’s verdict.
“This is the real Kerala story,” he said.
On the question of the next Chief Minister, Venugopal said the party leadership would decide at the earliest after due consultations.
The counting of votes began on Monday morning for all 140 Assembly constituencies in Kerala, where the Congress-led UDF secured a decisive majority, defeating the CPI(M)-led LDF, which was seeking an unprecedented third consecutive term in office.
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) posts, "Thank you to my brothers and sisters in Keralam for a truly decisive mandate. Congratulations to every UDF leader and worker for a hard-fought, well-run campaign. As I said before, Keralam has the talent, Keralam has the potential… pic.twitter.com/6T4IZbEmp4
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) May 4, 2026
