Nearly 50% polling till 3 pm in Haryana assembly polls

Chandigarh: Nearly 50 per cent polling was recorded till 3 pm in the Haryana assembly elections on Saturday in which the ruling BJP is eyeing a third term and the Congress seeking a comeback after a decade.

Officials said polling was going on smoothly barring a stray incident.

According to Election Commission data, a poll percentage of 49.13 was recorded till 3 pm after voting began at 7 am.

Among the top names in the fray are Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, the BJP's Anil Vij and O P Dhankar, the Congress's Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Vinesh Phogat, the INLD's Abhay Singh Chautala and the JJP's Dushyant Chautala.

The BJP, Congress, the INLD-BSP and the JJP-Azad Samaj Party alliances and the Aam Aadmi Party are the key parties contesting the polls.

A total of 1,031 candidates are in the fray, including 101 women and 464 Independent nominees.

Voting will conclude at 6 pm and counting will be taken up on October 8.

While voting was picking up pace in many districts, it was comparatively slow in Panchkula and Gurugram districts.

Till 3 pm, Ambala recorded a poll percentage of 49.39, Bhiwani 50.31, Charkhi Dadri 47.08, Faridabad 41.71, Fatehabad 52.46, Hisar 51.25, Jhajjar 49.68, Jind 53.94, Kaithal 50.58, Karnal 49.17, Kurukshetra 52.13, Mahendragarh 52.67, Mewat (Nuh) 56.59, Palwal 56.02, Panipat 49.40, Rewari 50.22, Rohtak 50.62, Sirsa 48.78, Sonipat 45.86 and Yamunanagar 56.79.

At 3 pm, Gurgaon had the lowest poll percentage at 38.61 followed by Panchkula 42.60.

Haryana Jan Sevak Party nominee from the Meham constituency Balraj Kundu accused former MLA Anand Singh Dangi of assaulting him and his assistant at a polling booth.

In Nuh district, there was a clash among supporters of the Congress' sitting MLA from Punhana and Independent candidate Rahish Khan in a village in the constituency which left three injured.

Saini, who is contesting from Ladwa in Kurukshetra, cast his vote in his native village Mirza in Ambala district's Naraingarh.

He attacked the Congress, saying it has been regularly insulting the Dalit community and has never brought any scheme for its upliftment.

"The Congress has a dual face, they talk of honesty but they indulge in loot," he alleged.

"The mood of the people of Haryana is clear, the BJP is going to form the government for the third time with a big mandate," Saini said.

Union Minister and former Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar cast his vote in Karnal, while double Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker and her parents cast their ballots in Jhajjar district's Goria village. Bhaker also appealed to the people, especially the younger ones, to come out and cast their votes.

Khattar claimed the Congress is racked with infighting. "There is a pall of gloom in the Congress' camp. It's chaotic there." He added that the BJP will improve on its 2014 performance and win more than 50 seats. The party had won 47 of the 90 assembly seats that year.

Congress stalwarts Hooda, Kumari Selja and Randeep Singh Surjewala, who also exercised their right to vote, said their party would form the next government.

The Congress high command will take the call on the next chief minister after the party wins the polls, they added.

Hooda, who is seeking re-election from Garhi Sampla-Kiloi in Rohtak district, said, "BJP ja rahi hai, Congress aa rahi hai (BJP is on its way out, the Congress is coming back to power)." BJP Kurukshetra MP Naveen Jindal went to cast his vote on horseback.

"Riding a horse is considered auspicious and people ride horses while going to attend weddings. That is why I came on a horse for this auspicious work," he said.

A software engineer based in the US, Rashika Gupta said she has returned home to exercise her franchise.

"I came here to vote for the development of Kaithal," she told PTI.

Sunil Kumar, a groom from Kurukshetra district, went to cast his vote before tying the knot. "I want to give the message to all that voting is very important. Nobody should waste their vote," he said.

Congress candidate and Olympic wrestler Phogat urged people to recognise their power and exercise their franchise as "today is the day of change".

She is contesting from the Julana assembly constituency in Jind district.

Wrestler and Congress leader Bajrang Punia said there is a Congress wave in Haryana and claimed the party would win between 60 and 70 seats.

Among other early voters were Saini, Khattar, BJP's Kuldeep Bishnoi and his family and JJP's Dushyant Chautala and his family.

AAP Haryana unit senior vice-president Anurag Dhanda cast his vote in Kalayat, the constituency he is contesting from.

In Hisar, senior Congress leader Selja said people of Haryana have been waiting for the assembly election to change the current dispensation in the state and bring her party to power.

Abhay Chautala, who cast his vote in Sirsa district, said his party's alliance will form the government. "Neither the Congress nor the BJP will win a majority. INLD-BSP will come to power," he claimed.

Dushyant Chautala, whose party is contesting the polls in alliance with the Azad Samaj Party, said he wanted to appeal to the people of Haryana to ensure that their votes decide the future of the state.

There are more than 2.03 crore eligible voters in the state and 20,632 polling booths have been set up.

A total of 144 polling stations have been designated as model ones.

Besides, 115 polling stations will be entirely managed by women staff, 114 by young government employees and 87 by differently-abled employees.

The voter turnout recorded in the 2019 Assembly polls was around 68 per cent.