"BJP coming to power for third time": Manohar Lal exudes confidence in party's victory in Haryana assembly polls

"We know that this festival of democracy comes every 5 years. Nominations for Haryana Vidhan Sabha have begun. We have presented our first list of candidates. Whatever I have seen on the occasion of nominations, I can say that the Bharatiya Janata Party government is coming to power in Haryana for the third time," the Union Minister told the media on Monday.

The BJP on September 4 released its first list of 67 candidates for the upcoming Haryana Assembly elections, while nine sitting MLAs have been dropped, an official statement said.

In the BJP's list of candidates for Haryana assembly polls, Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini will contest from the Ladwa constituency, and former state home minister Anil Vij from Ambala Cantt.

Other prominent leaders included in the first list are Gian Chand Gupta, Kanwar Pal Gurjar, Sunita Duggal, Bhavya Bishnoi, and Tejpal Tanwar. Gian Chand Gupta will contest from Panchkula, Kanwar Pal Gurjar from Jagadhri, Sunita Duggal from Ratia, Bhavya Bishnoi from Adampur, and Tejpal Tanwar from Sohna.

On September 2, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP national president JP Nadda, and BJP Haryana election in-charge Dharmendra Pradhan, election co-in-charge Biplab Dev, state in-charge Satish Punia, state co-in-charge Surender Nagar, and Union Minister Manohar Lal Khattar met and held talks regarding the candidates.

Voting for the 90-member legislative assembly in Haryana will be held on October 5, with the last date for filing nominations being September 12. The counting of votes will take place on October 8.

On August 31, the Election Commission of India (ECI) revised the polling date for the Haryana Assembly elections from October 1 to October 5 and moved the counting of votes for both the Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana assemblies from October 4 to October 8. (ANI)