Haryana polls: Cong names 7 more candidates, fields journalist from Rania
New Delhi/Chandigarh (PTI): The Congress on Thursday released two fresh lists of a total of seven candidates for the Haryana assembly polls, fielding former MLA Naresh Selwal from Uklana reserve seat and a journalist, who recently joined the party, from Rania.
With the fourth and fifth lists, the party has declared candidates on 88 of the 90 seats.
Thursday is the last day of filing of nominations.
The fourth list came a few hours after the Congress declared its third list of 40 candidates on Wednesday night, fielding party MP Randeep Surjewala's son Aditya Surjewala from Kaithal.
The party fielded Parimal Pari from Ambala Cantt, its youth leader Sachin Kundu from Panipat Rural, Satbir Dublain from the Narwana (SC) seat and Rohit Nagar from Tigaon.
Journalist Sarva Mitra Kamboj, who recently joined the Congress in the presence of former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and the party's state unit chief Udai Bhan, has been fielded from the Rania seat in Sirsa district.
Energy and Jails Minister Ranjit Chautala, who recently quit the BJP after being denied a ticket from Rania, represented the seat when he was an Independent MLA. He had quit the membership of the assembly before joining the BJP ahead of the Lok Sabha polls to contest from Hisar, in which he was unsuccessful.
In its fifth list, the Congress announced the names of Selwal from Uklana (SC) and Jasbir Singh from Narnuad.
The party had engaged in seat-sharing talks with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for the Haryana polls which hit a deadlock following hard bargaining from both sides. Since then, AAP has released multiple lists of its candidates.
Some Congress leaders had expressed reservations over a tie-up with the Arvind Kejriwal-led party.
The Congress last week declared 32 candidates for the polls, fielding former chief minister Hooda from Garhi Sampla-Kiloi, state unit chief Udai Bhan from Hodal and wrestler Vinesh Phogat from Julana.
The party had first released a list of 31 candidates and a little later, said in a statement that the CEC had approved the candidature of Balbir Singh from the Israna (SC) constituency.
It declared nine candidates on Sunday. The party has renominated all its 28 MLAs. Besides Hooda, Bhan, and Phogat, the Congress has also fielded Mewa Singh from Ladwa to take on Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini.
Assembly elections in Haryana will be held on October 5 and the counting of votes will be undertaken on October 8.
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CM Siddaramaiah alleges ‘criminal conspiracy’ in Sringeri recount, vows legal action
Bengaluru (PTI): Alleging a “criminal conspiracy” by BJP candidate D N Jeevaraj in the Sringeri Assembly poll recounting, Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said the outcome was manipulated after valid postal ballot votes in favour of Congress leader T D Raje Gowda were tampered with during the recounting process.
Following a Karnataka High Court order on an election petition filed by Jeevaraj, challenging Raje Gowda’s election, the reverification and recounting were conducted on Saturday.
After the reverification and recount of postal ballots for the Sringeri Assembly constituency, votes polled in favour of Raje Gowda were reduced by 255, the returning officer said.
A report on the matter has been submitted to the Election Commission of India for further action, the officer added.
Congress leader Raje Gowda had won the 2023 Assembly polls from Sringeri by 201 votes, defeating his nearest rival Jeevaraj.
Addressing a press conference in Bengaluru, Siddaramaiah said the High Court had directed the recounting of postal ballots and that irregularities were noticed during the exercise conducted on May 2.
“This is a clear case of criminal conspiracy,” Siddaramaiah said, alleging that valid votes cast in favour of Raje Gowda were altered after being accepted by counting agents of all parties, including Congress, BJP, and JD(S).
He claimed that during the recounting of postal ballots, 255 votes were initially accepted as valid by all agents but were later tampered with by subordinate officials.
“There is a second mark on the votes polled in favour of Raje Gowda. They had accepted these as valid votes. Subsequently, another mark was made by officials. This is a clear case of criminal conspiracy,” he said.
When asked who was behind the alleged conspiracy, the CM replied, “It was hatched by Jeevaraj and others. It is planned.”
Siddaramaiah further alleged that the returning officer acted improperly by declaring the result despite the presence of an Election Commission observer during the recounting.
“Immediately after the counting, the returning officer announced the result. He should not have done so; this is against the law,” he said.
He pointed out that Raje Gowda had originally won by 201 votes, but after the recounting, the BJP candidate was declared the winner by 52 votes.
“The BJP has committed a criminal act of conspiracy. This is not vote chori but vote dacoity,” he alleged.
The CM said a police complaint had already been filed by Raje Gowda’s election agent, Sudhir Kumar, and emphasised the need for electoral integrity.
“We want transparency and free and fair elections. That is what our Constitution mandates,” he added.
Stating that the government would pursue legal remedies, Siddaramaiah said, “We are preparing an appeal challenging the returning officer’s announcement in a court of law.”
Responding to a separate query on elections in other states, the CM said there appeared to be an anti-incumbency factor in West Bengal, while results in Tamil Nadu were “surprising,” adding that Vijay’s party was emerging as the largest there.
Following the victory of party candidates in Bagalkote and Davanagere South, Siddaramaiah expressed confidence about future electoral prospects in Karnataka.
“Even in 2028, we will win the Assembly elections. We will come back,” the CM said.
Siddaramaiah added that he would order a forensic examination into the alleged tampering of postal ballots.
