Congress, which has been in opposition for the last two terms in Haryana, is very excited about the upcoming assembly elections. There are two main reasons behind this, the party’s performance in the recently held Lok Sabha elections and secondly, the party has received a large number of applications for tickets from every assembly constituency. Haryana Congress spokesperson Kewal Dhingra told Aaj Tak that the party has received a total of 2,556 applications for 90 seats till August 10, 2024. Let us tell you that August 10 was the last date for submitting applications.
Dhingra said, “The last date has ended and now the applications for tickets are being scrutinized. The state unit and the AICC are conducting a survey to select suitable candidates from each assembly constituency. The scrutiny committee will submit the list to the AICC. Please note that the authority to hand over tickets lies with AICC.”
According to the list of applications available with ‘Aaj Tak’, maximum 88 applications have been received from Nilokhari assembly constituency, while 86 leaders have sought tickets in Julana assembly constituency.
Dalit leaders have also shown a lot of interest for the ticket. In many reserved assembly constituencies, more applications have been received than for general category seats. The maximum number of applications, 78, have come from Bhawani Kheda, followed by 57, 55, 54 and 52 applications from Uklana, Kalanaur, Kharkhoda and Bawal respectively.
Hooda’s opponents, JJP rebels and relatives of BJP leaders also in the race for ticket:
Some of BS Hooda’s key rivals, such as Sirsa MP and AICC general secretary Kumari Selja and Rajya Sabha MP and AICC general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala, are keen to contest the elections but have not formally applied for tickets. Shailja and Surjewala have expressed their desire, but they have left the final decision to the top leadership of the party. Responding to the question of contesting the elections, Surjewala said, “The tickets will be decided by the party’s Central Election Committee.”
On Sunday, Shailja and Surjewala addressed a big political meeting in Jind. Shailaja avoided talking about the chief ministerial candidate and said that the chief minister will be decided after the elections. Three MLAs, Ram Karan Kala, Ishwar Singh and Devendra Babli, who recently joined Congress from JJP, are also interested in the ticket. According to sources, Kala has also demanded Congress ticket. Journalist Sarv Miter Kamboj has demanded ticket from Rania assembly constituency. Rajbir Singh Lala, younger brother of BJP MP from Bhiwani-Mahendragarh, has also demanded ticket from Tosham assembly constituency.
Former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda is excited about the number of applications received for tickets and has called it a sign of the Congress wave in Haryana. Hooda said, “Thousands of applications have been received. This means that there is a Congress wave in Haryana. The people of Haryana have already decided to elect the Congress government.”
Reacting to the number of applications received by the Congress, political analysts said that the biggest challenge for the Congress party will be to pacify the dissidents who may contest against the party candidates. BJP spokesperson Praveen Attri said, “Congress is still a divided house. Party leaders are dreaming because dissidents will prove to be a big challenge for the party candidates.”