Haryana assembly election: Naveen Jindal reaches polling station on horse to cast his vote

BJP MP Naveen Jindal today cast his vote for the Haryana Assembly elections and expressed confidence in the party’s victory, saying that the people of the state will bless the party.

After casting his vote, Mr Jindal, BJP’s MP from Haryann’s Kurukshetra, said, “There is a lot of enthusiasm among the people. We are very happy that they are casting their votes today and I am confident that the brave and aware people of Haryana will give their blessings to the BJP. Haryana will bless the BJP and Nayab Singh Saini will become chief minister again.”

He arrived at the polling station on horseback.

“I came here riding on a horse as it is considered auspicious. My mother, Savitri Jindal, who is contesting from Hisar, wants to do a lot for Hisar. So the people of Hisar will decide whom they want as representative,” he said.

When asked about Haryana’s chief ministerial face, Mr Jindal said, “He (Anil Vij) is also a very big leader of our party and time will tell who becomes the Chief Minister but if a big leader has something in mind, he has the right to say it.”

Voting began for 90 assembly seats in Haryana on Saturday and saw a voter turnout of 9.53 per cent till 9 AM, the Election Commission of India said.

As per the data shared by the ECI, Jind recorded the highest poll percentage of 12.71 per cent, followed by Palwal 12.45 per cent, Ambala 11. 87 per cent, Fatehabad 11.81 per cent, and Mahendragarh 11.51 per cent till 9 AM.

Faridabad recorded an 8.82 per cent turnout, whereas Gurgaon had 6.10 per cent, Hisar 8.49 per cent and Jhajjar 8.43 per cent turnout till 9 AM.

Meanwhile, shortly after casting his vote, Union Minister and former Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar launched an all-out attack on the Congress, accusing it of spreading lies and arguing that their past corruption led to unemployment.
He claimed that under BJP rule, employment opportunities have increased, particularly in Haryana.

Mr Khattar served as the Chief Minister of Haryana for around 9.5 years. He was succeeded by Nayab Singh Saini in March this year. BJP is contesting the polls under his leadership. Saini is contesting from the Ladwa constituency.

This election is a high-stakes battle as the BJP is eyeing a third straight term to power in the state, the Congress party is aiming to wrest back power riding on anti-incumbency, and issues of farmer protests and wrestler protests.

The key contesting parties in Haryana include the BJP, Congress, and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), as well as the pre-poll alliance between the Indian National Lok Dal-Bahujan Samaj Party (INLD-BSP) and the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP)-Azad Samaj Party (ASP).

A total of 1,031 candidates are contesting in all 90 assembly constituencies, and 20,632 polling booths have been set up for voting.

The results for the Haryana Assembly elections will be declared along with those of Jammu and Kashmir on October 8.In the 2019 Assembly elections, the BJP won 40 of the 90 seats, forming a coalition government with the JJP, which won 10 seats. The Congress secured 31 seats. However, JJP later broke out of the coalition.