Election

Senior Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala's son Aditya Surjewala and BJP candidate Shruti Choudhry, former chief minister Bansi Lal's granddaughter, were among several leaders who filed nomination papers on Thursday for the October 5 Haryana Assembly polls.

Former Haryana deputy chief minister and Congress candidate Chander Mohan filed his nomination papers from the Panchkula assembly seat.

Polling for the 90 Assembly seats in Haryana will be held on October 5 and votes will be counted on October 8. Aditya Surjewala filed his papers from the Kaithal assembly seat. He was accompanied by his father and Rajya Sabha MP Randeep Surjewala.

Shruti Choudhry filed her papers from the Tosham seat. She was accompanied by her mother and Rajya Sabha MP Kiran Choudhry and the BJP's Haryana in-charge Biplab Kumar Deb.

Congress nominee Ashok Arora filed his papers from the Thanesar seat in Kurukshetra district. He was accompanied by senior party leader and former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

Returning home after more than five years of imprisonment, Member of Parliament Sheikh Abdul Rashid said on Thursday no one needs peace more than the people of Kashmir.

Popularly known as Engineer Rashid, the Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) chief landed at the Srinagar airport in the morning and he bowed down on the road after exiting the terminal. "We want to tell (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi that no one needs peace more than we do. But that peace will come at our conditions, not yours. We do not want the peace of a graveyard but peace with dignity," he said.

Expressing gratitude to his supporters who had assembled outside the airport to welcome him, the Baramulla MP said he wants to convey to the people of Kashmir that they are not weak at all. "The people of Kashmir will win as the people of Jammu and Kashmir are on the path of truth. The decisions taken by Narendra Modi on August 5, 2019, are totally unacceptable to us. Whether you send Engineer Rashid to Tihar or anywhere else, we will emerge victorious," he said, referring to the revocation of Article 370 by the Centre.

Flanked by his son and party leaders, Rashid asked his supporters not to lose courage as "the truth is with us".

"Nobody on earth, be it Narendra Modi, be it Amit Shah, can suppress our voice. The truth is with us and truth will be victorious. We are not begging. We want to be treated like humans. "We want the Jammu and Kashmir issue, which has been pending since 1947 and has claimed 4-5 lakh lives, to be resolved so that peace returns to the whole sub-continent, no mother loses her children and nobody is imprisoned," the MP added.

Rashid, who was released from Tihar jail on Wednesday, said that for him, the power of being an MP or an MLA did not matter as "everything comes later on".

"First, the self-respect, rights and liberty of Kashmiris have to be protected, preserved and honoured," he said.

The Congress released two fresh lists of a total of seven candidates for the Haryana Assembly polls today, fielding former MLA Naresh Selwal from Uklana reserve seat and a journalist, who recently joined the party, from Rania.

With the fourth and fifth lists, the party has declared candidates on 88 of the 90 seats.

Today is the last day of filing of nominations. The fourth list came a few hours after the Congress declared its third list of 40 candidates on Wednesday night, fielding party MP Randeep Surjewala's son Aditya Surjewala from Kaithal.

Journalist Sarva Mitra Kamboj, who recently joined the Congress in the presence of former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and the party's state unit chief Udai Bhan, has been fielded from the Rania seat in Sirsa district.

Baramulla MP Sheikh Abdul Rashid, also known as Engineer Rashid, on Wednesday launched a scathing attack on both the BJP and the I.N.D.I.A bloc and said the ruling party indulges in direct confrontation while the opposition grouping "stabs in the back".

Donning a black band on his left arm to protest against the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019, Rashid, who came out of Tihar jail after being given interim bail by a special court, expressed his discontent with the current political landscape. He said that his Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) intends to contest between 35 and 40 seats in the upcoming Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections without forming coalitions with any political party, stating, "I will only align with my inner self."

He condemned both the BJP's nationalism and the I.N.D.I.A bloc's secularism as disingenuous constructs used to tarnish the genuine ideals of both concepts. "I have a message to the BJP that we have no fight with you but do not sacrifice Kashmiris for your political agenda. I also have a question for I.N.D.I.A bloc they are not clear on their stance. Modi ji hits upfront while I.N.D.I.A (bloc) hits from behind. They weakened Article 370, Modi buried its body," he said at a press conference.

Identifying himself as a proud Islamist, Rashid distanced himself from radicalism, asserting, "No Islamist can be radical. I love the people of India and believe in 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam'."

The Congress released its fourth list of five candidates for the Haryana Assembly polls today, taking the total number of candidates declared to 86.

The party fielded Parimal Pari from Ambala Cantt, Sachin Kundu from Panipat Rural, Satbir Dublain from Narwana (SC), Sarva Mitra Kamboj from Rania and Rohit Nagar from Tigaon.

The list came just a few hours after the Congress declared its third list of 40 candidates, fielding party MP Randeep Surjewala's son Aditya Surjewala from Kaithal. The Congress has not named candidates for four seats, fuelling speculation over the possibility of a last-minute tie-up on those seats.

The Congress had been engaged in seat-sharing talks with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for the Haryana polls, with hard bargaining going on from both sides. However, the talks hit a deadlock and the AAP has released multiple lists since then.

Note: Today is the last day of filing of nominations.

Wrestler-turned-politician and Congress candidate for Haryana Assembly polls Vinesh Phogat filed her nomination from the Julana seat on Wednesday. 

She appealed to the people for their support so that her party could form a government under Bhupinder Singh Hooda's leadership. The Congress has not declared its chief ministerial candidate for Haryana and has maintained that if it comes to power, the party's legislators and the high command will take a call on the matter.

Addressing a gathering in Julana after filing her nomination, Phogat said, "Give your love and blessings to Congress so that it forms government under Bhupinder Hoodaji's leadership and the development works that were stalled for the 10 years resumes."

The Congress' Rohtak MP Deepender Singh Hooda and Sonipat MP Satpal Brahmachari accompanied the Olympic wrestler when she filed her nomination.

The Julana Assembly seat in Haryana's Jind district is set to witness a keen electoral bout with the BJP fielding Capt Yogesh Bairagi, a former commercial pilot, against Congress' wrestler-turned-politician Vinesh Phogat for the October 5 Assembly poll.

The 35-year-old BJP nominee is currently the vice president of Haryana BJP's youth wing, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), and co-convenor of the BJP Sports cell. The Julana Assembly segment drew attention after the Congress fielded Olympian wrestler Phogat from this Jat-dominated constituency.

Though the wrestler hails from Balali in Charkhi Dadri district, her in-laws' hometown is Julana. Bakhta Khera village in Julana is the native village of her husband Somvir Rathee. 

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge has announced five guarantees for the people of Jammu and Kashmir, including a five lakh interest-free loan for women entrepreneurs and Rs 25 lakh health insurance per family if the Congress-NC alliance is voted to power in the Union territory.

The Congress-NC government will also provide Rs 3,000 monthly to women heads of families and restore the provision to give 11 kg grains per person through the public distribution system. The promise for rehabilitation of Kashmir Pandits made during Manmohan Singh's term will be fulfilled. OBCs will also receive their rights as enshrined in the Constitution.

The five guarantees were read out by the Congress president in the presence of National Conference president Farooq Abdullah and other senior Congress leaders.

The party will focus on tourism and manufacturing, reopening over 4,400 government schools and aiming for statehood restoration.