Haryana, J&K Assembly Elections 2024 Live Updates: No alliance with Congress in Haryana? AAP releases 1st list of 20 candidates, says 'waited patiently'

Acting on the complaint of Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee, EC has deferred a meeting of the selection Committee to appoint Chairperson, Member (Judicial) and Member (Non-Judicial) of Haryana State Human Rights Commission till the completion of Assembly election in Haryana.

"Aam Aadmi Party is also stuck in the quagmire of corruption. Congress is also stuck in the quagmire of corruption and they can neither do good to the state, nor to the country, nor to the common man. This is not a party of the common man, it is a party of one man and because of corruption they are in jails," he said.

"Aam Aadmi Party is a good and strong option in Haryana. I do not want to get into the politics of allegations and counter-allegations. We are fighting the battle to change the system of Haryana," he said.

"Nominations have to be made by the 12th, there is very little time left and our priority is to remove the Bharatiya Janata Party. Today, a list of 20 candidates has been released, I heartily congratulate all of them on behalf of Arvind Kejriwal and we are committed to fulfill the 5 guarantees. More lists will be released soon. In Haryana, the Aam Aadmi Party will fight the elections strongly," he said.

"...We've released the 1st list and soon you will get the 2nd list. Now there is very little time left for the elections. We waited honestly (for the alliance) because the organization is strong in every assembly and that strong organization wanted us to contest the elections. We have shown our patience and after that, we released our list... We were a partner of the INDIA Alliance. We are a partner of INDIA Alliance at the national level," he said.

"...Very soon by evening, you will get to see the second list. Now only 3 days are left for nomination, so within 3 days all the candidates have to be lined up, for which scrutiny is going on. Aam Aadmi Party is a good and strong option in Haryana. I do not want to get into the politics of allegations and counter-allegations. We are fighting the battle to change the system of Haryana," he said

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) released its first list of 20 candidates for the upcoming Haryana assembly elections on Monday. This announcement comes while AAP is still in discussions with the Congress party to potentially form an alliance and reach an agreement on the remaining seats. Despite these ongoing negotiations, AAP has moved forward with naming its initial candidates.

PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on Monday accused jailed MP Sheikh Abdul Rashid's Awami Ittehad Party of being a proxy of the BJP, and warned the people of Jammu and Kashmir not to come under the influence of such parties. Her remarks came a day after PDP candidate from south Kashmir's Shopian assembly segment Yawar Shafi Banday was injured in an alleged attack by the workers of the Awami Ittehad Party (AIP), which is led by Rashid, popularly known as Engineer Rashid, in Balpora area of Shopian.

BJP appointed Sat Sharma the working president of J&K BJP. Dr Nirmal Singh appointed as the president of State Election Campaign Committee, Sukhnandan Choudhary to be the vice president. Kavinder Gupta to be the president of State Election Management Committee.

"Sandeep Pathak and Sushil Gupta have made it clear that we are fully prepared and we have completed the entire process of announcing our seats or contesting elections. As soon as they get permission from the party organization and the national president Arvind Kejriwal, we will contest elections. AAP is a national political party, we have a strong organization in Haryana. We do not have enough time," said Sanjay Singh.

Haryana'a AAP Chief Sushil Gupta on Monday said that if they don't receive any news from the high command about the alliance formation during the day, then the party will release the list of candidates for all 90 seats in the Haryana Assembly.

"BJP talks about Akhand Bharat, and the party has fulfilled its promises till now. The party will form the government with absolute majority in Jammu & Kashmir," said Sharma.

"How so many 'vasai' (dwellings) have come to AIP candidate? Their leader is in jail. Thousands of vehicles accompany them. How they have got this much money? People should think this. When they broke PDK and made proxy parties, they are now promoting Engineer Rashid's party after failing in Parliament elections. I want to caution the people that there are only PDP and NC parties here, the other parties are being backed by other forces. It can affect the cause of J&K which PDP is fighting for long," said PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti on clash of party workers with AIP workers.

"Today, I am going to file my nomination, and shortly, Anurag Thakur Ji will also join us. From here, we will proceed in a public rally, passing through various locations, and then I will file the nomination. The people have shown immense love and affection, and BJP will win this seat with a significant and record-breaking margin," said BJP candidate for Jammu West Assembly Constituency, Arvind Gupta, ahead of filing his nomination.

Defence minister Rajnath Singh revealed on Sunday that in September 2016, four Opposition MPs had attempted to engage with Hurriyat Conference leaders as part of the central government's efforts to initiate peace talks in Kashmir. However separatist leaders refused to meet with the delegation, Singh said while addressing an election rally in the Ramban assembly constituency in Jammu.

After a week marked by flip-flops over forging an alliance in Haryana, Sunday was marked by a 'take it or leave it' offer from Congress to AAP. A likelihood of a tie-up in Haryana between the two parties is hinged on AAP accepting Congress's twin conditions on number of seats and specific constituencies.

Haryana chief minister Nayab Singh Saini on Sunday accused the Congress and AAP, who are looking to forge an alliance for the Assembly election, of being "stuck in a quagmire of corruption" and claimed they would be wiped out in the polls. He claimed the Congress was not concerned about the welfare of the people and instead "exploits every section of society to fulfil its selfish interests".

Launching a scathing attack on the grand old party ahead of the October 5 Assembly polls, Saini alleged the Congress does politics in the name of farmers, wrestlers, soldiers, women and the poor, and does not spare anyone for its selfish interests.

"The Congress does not spare anyone. It exploits every section of society to fulfil its selfish interests. The party has nothing to do with the interests of the public," he said at a gathering in Ladwa in Kurukshetra.

The BJP has fielded Saini from the Ladwa Assembly segment for the Haryana polls. (PTI)

Congress party on Sunday released a second list of nine candidates for the upcoming Haryana assembly elections.

The party has fielded Ashok Arora from Thanesar, Kuldeep Sharma from Ganaur, and Brijendra Sharma from Uchana Kalan. Read full story

Some Congress workers from Haryana held a protest outside the AICC headquarters on Sunday, demanding that local leaders be given preference over "outsiders".

Some workers were protesting as they were upset with leaders' relatives being given tickets. Most of the protestors were from Haryana's Bawani Khera and they were carrying placards "Bahari pratyashi bardasht nahi karenge (Will not tolerate outside candidates)".

Some of the candidates from the Pataudi region alleged that the daughter and the son-in-law of state party chief Udai Bhan were being given tickets, violating party rules.

The Congress on Friday released its first list of 32 candidates for the Haryana Assembly polls, fielding former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda from Garhi Sampla-Kiloi, state unit chief Udai Bhan from Hodal and wrestler Vinesh Phogat from Julana.

The 90-member Haryana Assembly is scheduled to go to polls on October 5 and the counting of votes will be undertaken on October 8.

Blunting attacks from several quarters over joining the Congress party ahead of the Haryana polls, Olympian Bajrang Punia on Sunday said he and Vinesh Phogat would have been hailed as "patriots" had they joined the BJP.

BJP leader Aditya Devi Lal, the grandson of former deputy prime minister Devi Lal, joined the Indian National Lok Dal on Sunday and was fielded from Dabwali for the October 5 Assembly polls in Haryana. The 46-year-old leader joined the INLD at a rally of the party in Chautala village in Sirsa district in the presence of the party's senior leader Abhay Singh Chautala.

Aditya Devi Lal quit as Haryana Marketing Board chairman recently. With him joining the INLD, the BJP lost its prominent face in Sirsa district less than a month ahead of the polls amid the rebel trouble for the ruling party in the state.

He is the second from the Devi Lal clan to quit the BJP within a week. A few days ago, the state's Energy and Jails Minister Ranjit Chautala (79), a son of Devi Lal, also left the ruling party.

Before joining the INLD, Aditya took the blessings of his uncle and former chief minister Om Prakash Chautala at the latter's residence.

Ahead of the Haryana Assembly polls former MLA Umesh Agarwal’s wife Anita Agarwal and his son Samarth Agarwal joined the BJP on Sunday.

Anita Agarwal and Samarth Agarwal joined the BJP in the presence of the party’s Gurugram district President Kamal Yadav and State President of Mahila Morcha Usha Priyadarshi.

Kamal Yadav also appointed Pawan Yadav as District Media Head at the party office Gurukamal in Gurugram.

After joining the BJP, Anita Agarwal told IANS that she “felt proud” and said she would work with other leaders to ensure the party comes back to power in Haryana for a third time.

“It is my good luck that I am standing here today. I and my son were planning to join the BJP and that auspicious day has finally come. I like the ideology of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP which is constantly working in favour of people of the state,” Anita Agarwal told IANS.

"I've forgotten the pain that I had to go through because of the love and respect that I've received from you. Therefore, I will remain thankful if I'm able to reduce your sufferings. The land of Jind has been historic, and people here are very brave," said Congress leader Vinesh Phogat.

Just two days after joining the Congress party ahead of the Haryana Assembly Polls, wrestler Vinesh Phogat started her election campaign in the Jind region of Haryana on Sunday.

On Friday, Phogat and wrestler Bajrang Punia joined Congress just one month before the Haryana Assembly Elections.

Within hours of joining the party, Phogat was fielded as a party candidate from the Julana Assembly Constituency. Whereas Punia was appointed as the working president of the All India Kisan Congress.

'Situation in J&K has changed, youths now carrying laptops and computers instead of pistols and revolvers', said defence minister Rajnath Singh. He added, "PoK residents should join India; unlike Pakistan, we consider them our own'.

National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Sunday said the BJP top brass was focussing its election campaign on Jammu as they want to "intimidate" the Hindu voters of Jammu and Kashmir by creating false fears. He also accused the BJP of misleading the people by claiming that terrorism will rise again if the National Conference and Congress alliance came to power in Jammu and Kashmir.

"They (BJP) want to threaten the Hindu community. They think the Hindus will vote for them but today the Hindus have changed. First they (BJP) sought votes in the name of Ram and now they want to intimidate them," Abdullah charged.

He was speaking to reporters at Naseembagh mausoleum of National Conference founder Sheikh Muhammad Abdulla after paying tributes to the party founder on his 42nd death anniversary.

BJP has announced its sixth list of candidates for the forthcoming elections in Jammu and Kashmir. The list includes ten names, with Bharat Bhushan being nominated to contest from the Kathua (SC) constituency.

"We have been saying this regularly. Both the parties are discussing it in a good atmosphere. Both the parties are intending to form the alliance keeping aside self interests for the welfare of people of Haryana. Whenever there would be a positive development, we will let you know. Both the parties want to form the alliance, we will take a decision well before 12th, the last day of nomination. If there is no win-win situation, then we will leave it. The talks are going on, good discussions are happening, I hope a good conclusion will come out of it," says AAP leader Raghav Chadha.

On the possible alliance between AAP and Congress in the Haryana Assembly elections, Haryana Assembly Speaker and BJP leader Gyan Chand Gupta says, "Congress party has accepted its defeat. Congress party propagated that we have received 2.5 to 3 thousand applications. But they are not getting candidates and that is why they are discussing alliance with Samajwadi Party or Aam Aadmi Party. On the other hand, Congress party is giving tickets to such people who are involved in some suspicious crimes. What message does the Congress party want to give by making such people candidates? The face and character of the Congress party that is emerging today clearly show that Congress has accepted its defeat. BJP is going to form its government for the third time in Haryana"

National Conference president Farooq Abdullah said, "They (BJP) are scared of the National Conference. They will do everything possible to defame the National Conference but we will win and change the fate of the people. I just want to say to him (HM Amit Shah) that the India they want to make, we are against it. India belongs to everyone, Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists and others. The ones who are raising questions on Muslims should know that Muslims have also contributed and sacrificed their lives for independence. They (BJP) are only trying to scare Hindus, they think Hindus will vote for them but I want to tell them that now those Hindus are not the same Hindus. They say if the National Conference and Congress come to power, terrorism will start again. I ask them when they abolished Article 370, did terrorism end? National Conference and Congress will ensure that we get our statehood back."

The second phase of election training for polling staff in the upcoming Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections 2024 began at the Town Hall in Doda district on Sunday.

The training session was attended by polling staff, including Presiding Officers (PO), P1, P2, and P3 personnel, who received essential instructions on operating and managing electronic voting machines (EVMs) and voter-verifiable paper audit trails (VVPATs).

Under the supervision of the appointed General Observer, the session aimed to equip the polling staff with the skills and knowledge needed to ensure a smooth and transparent election process.

Even as pre-poll alliance talks for the Haryana Assembly election between the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party are going on, AAP MLA Somnath Bharti on Sunday raised a red flag against it and said the party should contest all 90 Assembly seats in the state ‘on its own'.

Somnath Bharti in a long post on X highlighted the alliance experience between the two during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections alleging non-cooperation from the Congress party.

"Before AAP-Congress alliance is inked in Haryana, @AamAadmiParty must evaluate the effectiveness of similar alliance formed in Delhi during Lok Sabha Election. While my national Convenor @ArvindKejriwalji did roadshows for all the three Congress Candidates, senior leaders and cabinet ministers of AAP campaigned for all three Congress candidates but AAP candidates especially myself were not supported at all especially by Congress Delhi and local leaders."

Asserting that the 10-year BJP rule in the country was a "disappointment", the National Conference and Congress on Tuesday said the saffron party was in a state of panic since the two parties announced a seat-sharing arrangement for the three-phase assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir. The two parties hit out at the saffron party for trying to "paint the INDIA alliance in a negative light".

The BJP released its manifesto for the J&K assembly polls at an event in Jammu on Friday in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah. On Saturday, he addressed a BJP worker's rally in Ploura, Jammu, where he attacked the NC-Congress alliance.

Polling in Jammu and Kashmir is scheduled on September 18, 25 and October 1. The counting of votes will be held on October 8.

Expressing optimism about the seat-sharing speculation between the Aam Aadmi Party and Congress for the upcoming elections in Haryana, AAP MP Raghav Chadha said on Saturday that he is hopeful that the seat-sharing will be finalised.

"I hope it (alliance/seat sharing) will be finalised. Ummeed pe duniya kaayam hai (The world stands on hope)," the AAP MP said after meeting with AICC in charge of Haryana, Deepak Babaria, at the residence of Congress leader and Telangana Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy.

After the meeting, Deepak Babaria said that they are hopeful that the results regarding the alliance will come out in two days.

"Congress has given me this responsibility, and this was my second or third meeting with Raghav Chadha in the last two days. We are exchanging the locations and numbers, and we hope that results will come out in two days. It depends; if it will be a win-win situation for both Congress and AAP, then we will go into a coalition; I am trying for that. It may happen (changes in the names of already declared candidates)," he said.

Calling Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal "Haryana ka laal," AAP national convenor's wife Sunita Kejriwal said on Saturday that Arvind Kejriwal will not bow down before the Modi government.

"Modi government has put him inside the jail. Modiji kehte hai, 'Kejriwal chor hai'. I want to say if CM Arvind Kejriwal is a thief, then there is no honest person in the world. I want to make it clear that Arvind Kejriwal, Haryana ka laal, will not bow down before PM Modi. BJP puts its opponents in jail and is only greedy for power. It knows how to break parties," Sunita Kejriwal said.

Sunita Kejriwal accused the BJP government in Haryana of lack of action for the people of the state in 10 years and urged the voters to caste their votes in favour of AAP to build 'a new Haryana'.

"In Haryana, 10 years of the BJP government have been completed. I want to ask you, did your children's future brighten in these years, or did any reform occur in the education system? Did the government schools, hospitals, and electricity better in these 10 years?.. All these things are happening in Delhi and Punjab," she added.

She further said that the Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi and Punjab is working for the future of women, children.

Wrestler Bajrang Punia on Saturday extended his support to fellow wrestler Vinesh Phogat, who is contesting the Haryana Assembly elections from Julana, and said that he will work in the organisation and carry out the responsibility given by the party's 'High Command'.

"We had decided that only one of us would contest the election, and she is contesting. I stand with Vinesh...I will work in the organisation and carry out the responsibility given by the High Command," he said.

When asked about the allegations of wrestlers' protests backed by Congress in wake of them joining the party, Punia said that they had nothing to do with politics at that time.

"Why were we made to sit on protest? Who were they? Congress party's or someone else's? We had nothing to do with politics at that time. We did not allow any politicians on our stage initially...It is their job to set a narrative...There is nothing like that," he said.

"I would like to thank everyone. I think I will receive the same love in politics that I received through wrestling. I have come here with a sense of service to people. I will work hard by being in the grassroots," Punia added.

Political parties have stepped up their electoral preparedness in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, going to polls in the third week of September.

Polling would be held in three phases starting from September 18, 25, and October 1. The counting of votes will take place on October 8.

The National Conference and the People's Democratic Party have mentioned the restoration of Article 370 in their manifestos. The BJP, on the other hand, said that Article 370 has become a thing of the past.

The upcoming elections are the first polls to be held in the Union Territory after the abrogation of Article 370.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who released the party manifesto in Jammy on Friday, launched a scathing attack on Congress and the National Conference's manifesto on Saturday.

Shah said that they want to spread terrorism, snatch reservations of Gujjars, Bakarwal, Paharis, and Dalits, release criminals, and start LOC trade with Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir.

With some separatists contesting in Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir, Union minister Jitendra Singh on Saturday asserted those who decide to join the national mainstream cannot be deprived of this democratic opportunity. He also said the alliance between the National Conference and the Congress is "just for the sake of power" and it has nothing to do with "national interest".

"If any separatist has decided to join the national mainstream by fighting elections, should he be deprived of this democratic opportunity?

"(NC founder Sheikh) Abdullah after spending 12 years in prison came out the same way and became the chief minister. We cannot have two different yardsticks," Singh, the minister of state in the Prime Minister's Office, told reporters here while replying to queries on separatists entering the electoral fray.

On former chief minister and National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah's claim that the BJP has "struck a deal" with some regional parties and independents candidates to be part of the government in J-K, the minister said, "The BJP does not need proxies to fight elections as we are ourselves capable enough to form the government".

Asked about Omar Abdullah fighting elections from two seats of Ganderbal and Budgam in the Kashmir Valley, Singh said when anyone changes his constituency it means he is on a "weak wicket".

He said the question should be posed to Abdullah as to why he is contesting from two seats.

Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah on Saturday claimed "conspiracy" that people from prison are contesting against him in the upcoming assembly polls.

Abdullah is contesting from Ganderbal and Budgam assembly seats which will go to polls in the second phase on September 25.

"They bring in people from jails to contest against me. Had this been a one-time thing, it could have been ignored. But now when assembly elections were announced and I was declared as the NC candidate from Ganderbal, again I heard someone from prison is going to contest against me. This person has nothing to do with Ganderbal. He might not even be able to locate Ganderbal on a map. I sense a conspiracy in this," Omar said.

Earlier today, Omar claimed that the BJP can form government with Engineer Rashid's party, Apni Party, Peoples Conference and Awami Itehaad Party.