Haryana Polls: "People of Haryana will decide whom they want to elect," says JJP president Ajay Singh Chautala

Speaking to ANI after casting his vote at a polling booth in Sirsa, he said, "The people of Haryana will now decide whom they want to elect. We have done our job. We have taken our party's agenda to the people of Haryana during campaigning."

Voting in Haryana started at 7 am and go till 6 pm. 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.

Meanwhile, Former Haryana Chief Minister and Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Saturday expressed confidence that his party would perform well in the Haryana assembly polls and form the government in the state.

"I appeal to people to come out of their houses and cast their votes peacefully. According to the reports, people are voting in good numbers. Congress is going to form its government here," he said.

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.

BJP leaders have also exuded confidence in winning the Haryana elections.

Former Haryana Congress CM 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.

"I think someone advised them (Congress) 6-8 months ago to keep repeating their lies so that eventually people start believing in them. But as the elections approached, their lies were exposed... They have not even announced their CM candidate so far... People had gone through so many atrocities during the Congress government. The government was so corrupt that now all those agents and middlemen have been kept out of their jobs during the BJP rule... Unemployment in Haryana is only for the corrupt agents and middlemen of the Congress government. The common man has ample employment opportunities. With the growth of industry in the state, there is ample employment for everyone, especially in NCR and districts along the GT Road," he said.

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. (ANI)