Olympic medallist shooter Manu Bhaker and her family proudly display their ink-marked fingers after voting at a polling station in Jhajjar during the Haryana Assembly elections on Saturday.
Haryana is bracing for a highly competitive election today, with over 2 crore voters set to cast their ballots to elect 90 members to the state assembly in a single-phase poll. This election will determine the future of key political figures, including Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Vinesh Phogat, and JJP’s Dushyant Chautala, among 1,027 other candidates in the race.
The BJP faces strong opposition as it aims for a third consecutive term, while the Congress seeks to regain power after a decade-long absence. Regional parties like Dushyant Chautala’s Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) and Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) are also in the mix, positioning themselves as potential kingmakers in the next government.
Polling will occur across 90 constituencies from 7 am to 6 pm, with over 2 crore voters—including 8,821 centenarians—expected to participate at 20,632 polling stations.
The Congress is looking to build on its strong performance in the recent Lok Sabha elections, with its manifesto promising seven key guarantees, including legal commitments to Minimum Support Prices (MSPs), conducting a caste survey, and providing a monthly allowance of ₹2,000 to women.
Rahul Gandhi has led the Congress campaign, highlighting critical issues such as the Agniveer scheme, farmers’ protests, and the wrestlers’ agitation against the BJP.
In 2014, riding the Modi wave, the BJP won 47 seats, marking its first government in Haryana under Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar. Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini remains confident, touting the development achieved under the BJP government over the past decade and declaring that Haryana has transformed into a “developed state.”
A total of 1,031 candidates are contesting this election, including 101 women and 464 independents.