Haryana will head to polls on October 21 to elect a new Legislative Assembly. The tenure of the current Assembly -- which was elected in 2014 -- will end on November 2, 2019.
Elections will be held for all the 90 Assembly seats and counting of votes will take place on October 24, well ahead of Diwali. Maharashtra will head for polls simultaneously.
Over 1.8 crore voters are expected to cast their ballots, across more than 19,000 polling stations.
The current political scenario in Haryana
Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar-led BJP is hoping to retain power in the northern state. It is being challenged by a fractured Opposition. Congress is being led by former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. This is the first Assembly election for Dushyant Chautala's Jannayak Janata Party (JJP). He had formed JJP after splitting from his grandfather's Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) in 2018. BJP's partner in Punjab -- the Shiromani Akali Dal -- has allied with INLD.
Some of the other parties in fray are the Bahujan Samaj Party and Yogendra Yadav's Swaraj India.
So what are the key things one needs to watch out for?
Impact of Congress infighting
The Haryana unit of Congress is facing with deep-rooted factionalism and infighting. This infighting had also led to former state unit chief Ashok Tanwar, to leave the party ahead of the polls. This comes as a major threat to Congress’ prospects.
Jannayak Janata Party's first Assembly polls
This is JJP's first Assembly election. With INLD having lost ground over years, JJP is hoping to capture that space. However, this could also lead to splitting of votes and might end up helping the BJP.
Battle for Jat votes
Jats make up around one-fourth of Haryana’s population. The community is politically influential. For decades, Congress and INLD have banked on Jat votes for electoral success. That support seems to be steadily eroding. BJP is leaving no stone unturned to win Jat-dominated seats.
Economic, jobs and farmer distress
Haryana is one of the states witnessing agrarian crisis. There are also growing concerns over economic slowdown and lacking job opportunities. These factors are likely to play on voters’ minds.
For more on the Haryana Assembly elections, watch this video by Nachiket Deuskar.
Assembly Elections 2019: For the latest news, views and updates, click here
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