New Delhi: The Congress on Thursday released its fourth list of five candidates for the Haryana Assembly polls, 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.
Some Congress leaders have expressed reservations over a tie-up with the Arvind Kejriwal-led party. Thursday is the last day of filing of nominations. The Congress on Friday declared 32 candidates for the 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 party had first released a list of 31 candidates and a little later, in a statement, said the CEC had approved the candidature of Balbir Singh from the Israna (reserved for the Scheduled Castes) constituency.
The party declared nine candidates on Sunday. It has renominated all its 28 MLAs. Besides Hooda, Bhan, and Phogat, the Congress has also fielded Mewa Singh from Ladwa to take on Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini. Assembly elections in Haryana will be held on October 5 and the counting of votes will be undertaken on October 8.
