NEW DELHI: The Congress on Friday released its first list of 32 candidates for the Haryana Assembly polls, fielding former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda from Garhi Sampla-Kiloi, state unit chief Udai Bhan from Hodal, and wrestler Vinesh Phogat from Julana.
Polling for the 90-member Haryana assembly will be held on October 5, and votes will be counted on October 8.
The list was released after the Central Election Committee (CEC) of the party met in Delhi, with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, former party chief Sonia Gandhi, general secretary in-charge organisation KC Venugopal, All India Congress Committee (AICC) in-charge of Haryana Deepak Babaria and Hooda, among others, attending the meeting.
Asked about alliance talks with AAP for Hayana polls, Babaria said that there is no development as of now.
"I got calls from them but I was not able to attend those calls because of our own meetings. I will speak to them now. Every political party express their opinion, tries to create pressure. I can't say anything about the alliance right now. It is still under consideration," he said.
The Congress first released a list of 31 candidates and a little later, in a statement, said the CEC has approved the candidature of Balbir Singh from the Israna (reserved for the Scheduled Castes) constituency. Singh is the incumbent MLA from Israna.
The grand old party has renominated all its 28 MLAs.
Besides Hooda, Bhan and Phogat, the Congress has fielded Mewa Singh from Ladwa to take on Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini.
The Congress has named five women candidates.
Barring Phogat, the other four, including former state minister Geeta Bhukkal, are incumbent MLAs.
The Congress has fielded Surender Panwar from Sonipat, Bharat Bhushan Batra from Rohtak, Kuldeep Vats from Badli, Chiranjeev Rao from Rewari and Neeraj Sharma from Faridabad NIT.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Panwar in July in an "illegal" mining-linked money-laundering case.
The Congress has also given a ticket to Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) rebel Ram Karan from the Shahbad reserve seat and Independent MLA Dharam Pal Gondar, both of whom switched over to the grand old party recently.
AICC incharge of Haryana Deepak Babaria earlier gave indications that Phogat will be fielded from Julana.
"I think it has been decided that she will contest from Julana," he said.
The Olympian will enter the fray from Julana in Jind district, which is considered to be the political heartland of the state.
It is also a region that had a considerable impact during the farmers' protest against three farm laws that have since been repealed.
Phogat has shared the stage with prominent farmer leaders in the past.
While most of the 28 incumbent MLAs are Hooda loyalists, a few of them are also close to senior Congress leader and Sirsa MP Kumari Selja, who is considered Hooda's bete noire.
Earlier, on the possibility of any MP contesting the polls, Babaria said after the CEC meeting, "To date, no MP has been permitted to contest Assembly elections."
In a big boost to Congress, Olympian wrestlers Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat joined the Congress earlier in the day.
Punia and Phogat joined the party in the presence of Congress general secretary KC Venugopal, party leader Pawan Khera, Haryana Congress chief Udai Bhan, and Babaria.
Vinesh Phogat recalled women wrestlers' fight over sexual harassment allegations against former BJP MP and former WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
"The fight is continuing, it hasn't ended yet. It's in court. We will win that fight as well... With the new platform that we are getting today, we will work for the service of the nation," she said.
"When we were being dragged on the road, all parties except the BJP were with us. I feel proud that I have joined a party which stands with women and is ready to fight from sadak to sansad," she added.
The two well-known wrestlers joined the Congress almost a month before the Haryana assembly polls. The wrestlers resigned from their respective positions in Northern Railways earlier in the day.
Punia has been appointed working president of Kisan Congress.
Punia won bronze at the Tokyo Olympics, while Vinesh Phogat became the first woman wrestler to reach the Olympics final.
Phogat announced her retirement from wrestling a short while after she was disqualified from the Paris Olympic Games after being found overweight by about 100 gm in her 50-kg category weigh-in ahead of the gold medal match.
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