1,169 candidates in fray for 90 seats in Haryana

Some 1,169 candidates are in the fray for the 90 seats in the Haryana Assembly elections scheduled for October 21.

The main contest is between the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has set a target of winning 75 seats for itself riding on the hype of the abrogation of Article 370 and the National Citizens Register (NRC).

The Congress is focusing on issues like the economic slowdown, rising unemployment and farmers distress in its campaign. While Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has so far addressed a rally in Nuh. Another one is scheduled to be addressed by the party's interim chief Sonia Gandhi on Friday.

The Chautala clan-led Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) as well as its offshoot Dushyant Chautala's Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) are also trying to make a dent in the votes of the two parties. Some seats are likely to have a triangular contest.

While the BJP and the Congress are contesting on all 90 seats, the BSP is in fray on 87 seats, and the INLD is contesting on 81 seats. There are some 375 candidates contesting as Independents.

According to the Election Commission (EC) data, of the total 1,169 candidates in the fray, 1,064 are men and 104 are women. One candidate is a Transgender.

Hansi has a maximum of 25 candidates in the running, while Ambala Cantt and Shahbad have just six.

Narnaul is the smallest constituency in terms of voters, with just 1,44,066 electorate, while Badshahpur is the largest, with 3,96,281 voters.

While one constituency has less then 1.5 lakh voters, some 47 constituencies have between 1.5 lakh to 2 lakh voters and 42 constituencies have more than 2 lakh votes.

The state has 19,578 polling stations, which will use 27,611 VVPATs.IANS