Nayab Saini's Ladwa To Vinesh Phogat's Julana: A Look At Haryana's Hot Seats

The BJP is looking to get a third consecutive victory in the Haryana Assembly polls, which will be held on October 1, while a resurgent Congress is hoping to oust the party from power in the state. What has made the contest even more interesting is the entry of a new chief ministerial face, Nayab Singh Saini, who took over as the chief minister from Manohar Lal Khattar in March; the fact that Haryana's 10 Lok Sabha seats were divided evenly between the BJP and the Congress earlier this year; and Olympain wrestler Vinesh Phogat stepping into the state's political arena this time. 

Here is a look at some of the state's hot seats:

Ladwa

After winning the Karnal bypoll in June, Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini has been fielded from the Ladwa Assembly constituency, which is seen as a safe seat for him because there is a large population of people from the Other Backward Communities, including the Saini community. He does face a stiff challenge, however, from the Congress' Mewa Singh, who won the constituency with a margin of over 29,000 votes in 2019. 

The constituency was carved out of the Thanesar Assembly constituency only in 2009 and no party has won it twice since then. While the Indian National Lok Dal emerged victorious in 2009, the seat was won by the BJP in 2014 and then by the Congress. 

Julana 

The Julana Assembly constituency was thrust into the spotlight as soon as Vinesh Phogat was fielded by the Congress from there, just hours after she and fellow wrestler Bajrang Punia joined the party last week. The two wrestlers had been at the forefront of the protest against former BJP MP and Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh and Ms Phogat's popularity has seen a surge recently after she missed out on what would have been at least a silver medal at the Paris Olympics on being disqualified for exceeding the weight limit by 100 grams ahead of the final bout in the 50 kg freestyle wrestling event.

The BJP has pitted Captain Yogesh Bairagi against Ms Phogat. Mr Bairagi is a former Army officer and also worked as a commercial pilot. The party has made a strategic call by fielding Mr Bairagi, a non-Jat candidate who is from the backward class, in the Jat-dominated constituency. The seat had been won by Amarjeet Dhanda of the Jannayak Janata Party in 2019. 

Ambala Cantt

For the Ambala Cantonment constituency, the BJP has reposed faith once again in former Home Minister Anil Vij, who has been unbeaten there since 2009 and had held the seat before that as well. Congress has not included Ambala Cantonment in its first or second lists for Haryana and it is believed that party is reportedly yet to zero-in on a candidate that can win against Mr Vij. 

Tosham

Bhiwadi's Tosham assembly constituency has been the stronghold of former Chief Minister Bansi Lal. This time, the BJP has fielded his granddaughter and Kiran Choudhry's daughter Shruti Choudhry from the seat just months after the mother and daughter left the Congress and joined the party.

The Congress has responded by fielding another of Bansi Lal's grandchildren, Anirudh Chaudhary, who is the son of Ranbir Mahendra, a former president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). While Shruti Choudhry's mother Kiran Choudhry, now a Rajya Sabha member from the BJP, is Bansi Lal's daughter-in-law, Anirudh Chaudhary's father, Mr Mahendra, is his estranged son. 

The odds are seen to be in Shruti Choudhry's favour because the Tosham seat has been won by Kiran Choudhry since 2005. 

Adampur

The Adampur Assembly constituency is considered to be the stronghold of former Haryana chief minister Bhajan Lal Bishnoi, who was elected from the seat at least eight times, while the Congress has won from there seven times in the 17 assembly elections held so far. Bhajanlal's son Kuldeep Bishnoi was elected from the seat four times and the BJP has opted to field his daughter and sitting MLA Bhavya Bishnoi. The Congress is, however, yet to announce a candidate. 

Garhi Sampla-Kiloi

A bastion of former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, the Garhi Sampla-Kiloi seat has been won by him thrice in a row since 2009 and twice before that, when the seat was known as Kiloi. The Congress has nominated Mr Hooda - who won with a margin of over 58,000 votes last time - again and the BJP has pitted Manju Hooda against him. Ms Hooda is the wife of Rohtak gangster Rajesh alias Sarkari.