Haryana CM Nayab Saini files nomination for Karnal assembly bypoll

Chandigarh: Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini Monday filed nomination papers for the May 25 Karnal Assembly bypoll, necessitated by the resignation of his predecessor Manohar Lal Khattar, who also filed his papers for the Karnal parliamentary seat.

Ahead of filing their nomination papers before the returning officer in Karnal on the last day for the process, Saini and Khattar took out a roadshow in Karnal in an open decorated vehicle.

Voting for Haryana's 10 Lok Sabha seats and the Karnal assembly seat will take place on May 25.

"There is an overwhelming public support. The BJP is getting huge support not just in Karnal but everywhere. I can say that in Haryana, eleven 'lotuses' (the BJP's poll symbol) will bloom. We will win with a big mandate," Saini told reporters during the roadshow.

He said the country has moved ahead on the path of progress during the past 10 years under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"If we compare Karnal of 2014 with the present-day Karnal then we can see a big difference. The double-engine government has undertaken a lot of development in the country and in the state," said Saini.

Nayab Saini is up against Congress rival Tarlochan Singh in the Karnal assembly bypolls.

Khattar's rival for the Lok Sabha seat is Haryana Youth Congress president Divyanshu Budhiraja.

In the 2019 assembly polls, Manohar Lal Khattar, who was then the state's chief minister, had retained his Karnal seat defeating Tarlochan Singh.

Nayab Saini, the state BJP chief and MP in the outgoing Lok Sabha from Kurukshetra seat, was sworn in as the chief minister on March 12, replacing Khattar.

On March 13, Khattar resigned as an MLA from the Karnal assembly seat and on the same day was named as the BJP candidate for the Karnal Lok Sabha seat.

The nomination process for the 10 Lok Sabha constituencies in Haryana and for the Karnal assembly seat bypoll began on April 29.

The deadline for filing nominations is May 6. The scrutiny of nominations will be done on May 7, and candidates can withdraw their nominations until May 9.