The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday announced its second list of 21 candidates for the upcoming Haryana Assembly elections, slated for October 5.
The list also stirred controversy as it excluded seven sitting MLAs, including two prominent ministers and the state party president, Mohan Lal Badoli.
Key Ministers Dropped
BJP denied tickets to two key ministers in Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini's Cabinet. Seema Trikha, the school education minister and Badkhal MLA, and Banwari Lal, the health minister and Bawal MLA, have been replaced by fresh candidates. Dhanesh Adlakha will contest from the Badkhal seat, while Krishna Kumar will run in Bawal.
Seema Trikha was the only woman minister in Saini’s Cabinet. Trikha had been a strong candidate, having won the Badkhal seat in both the 2019 and 2014 elections, defeating Congress candidates Vijay Pratap Singh and Mahendra Pratap Singh, respectively. Banwari Lal’s replacement also comes as a surprise, reflecting the BJP’s strategic shift in selecting candidates for this election cycle.
Meanwhile, Mohan Lal Badoli, the MLA from Rai in Sonipat, has been replaced by Krishna Gehlawat for the upcoming Haryana Assembly elections. Badoli had earlier stated he wouldn't run in the October 5 elections, choosing instead to focus on helping the BJP win all 90 seats.
Internal Discontent Grows
The BJP’s shake-up has reportedly led discontent within the party. The second list has not only left some key figures out of the race but has also sparked resignations. Shiv Kumar Mehta, a senior state executive member and ticket aspirant from the Narnaul seat, resigned from the party after being overlooked in favour of Om Prakash Yadav. In his resignation letter to Badoli, Mehta expressed frustration, stating that despite his 45 years of service to the party, he was repeatedly told to “prepare for the next time.” Mehta has since left the BJP, stating that he will now focus on social service.
Satyavrat Shastri, the state BJP spokesperson, also resigned from the party’s primary membership. Shastri criticised the party, claiming it had strayed from its values and was now influenced by individuals with “opposite ideologies.”
Candidate Replacements
The BJP has made notable changes in key seats. In the Pehowa seat, Kawaljeet Singh Ajrana, the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee spokesman, has been replaced by Jai Bhagwan Sharma. Ajrana had initially been named in the party’s first list, but protests from Sharma’s supporters led to a last-minute switch. The Pehowa seat was won by former Indian hockey captain Sandeep Singh in 2019. Singh, who served as a minister in the previous Manohar Lal Khattar government, faced sexual harassment allegations and was eventually dropped from the ministry by CM Saini earlier this year. Singh was also denied a ticket in this election.
The party has fielded Capt Yogesh Bairagi against Congress candidate Vinesh Phogat, the Olympian wrestler, in the Julana seat.
The list features two women candidates and two Muslim nominees from the Mewat region—Naseem Ahmad (Ferozepur Jhirka) and Aizaz Khan (Punahana). The party had also fielded two Muslim candidates in the 2019 election.
Additionally, the second list names four Scheduled Caste (SC) candidates and includes representation from Jat, OBC, Rajput, Punjabi, Brahmin, and Sikh communities.
BJP has now declared 87 candidates out of 90 seats, with representation as follows: 17 SCs, 16 Jats, 19 OBCs, 5 Rajputs, 11 Punjabis, 11 Brahmins, 5 Vaishyas, 2 Muslims, and 1 Sikh. The party is yet to announce its candidates for the remaining three seats—Faridabad (NIT), Mahendragarh, and Sirsa.
The BJP is also navigating delicate alliance negotiations. Gopal Kanda, the chief of the Haryana Lokhit Party (HLP) and an ally of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), is reportedly seeking three seats for his party. Kanda, along with his brother Govind Kanda (a BJP member), is focusing on securing nominations for Sirsa and two other constituencies. In the 2019 elections, Gopal Kanda won the Sirsa seat, defeating Independent Gokul Setia, who is now the Congress candidate.
