BJP drops 7 MLAs in 2nd list of 21 for Haryana assembly elections; fields Captain Yogesh Bairagi against Congress' Vinesh Phogat from Julana

CHANDIGARH: BJP on Tuesday released its second list of 21 candidates for the Haryana assembly elections, dropping seven sitting MLAs, including two ministers, replacing one nominee and pitting Capt Yogesh Bairagi against Congress’s wrestler-turned-politician Vinesh Phogat from Julana.

The party has so far named 87 candidates for the 90-member assembly, leaving out tricky seats of Mahendragarh, Sirsa and NIT Faridabad owing to heavyweights competing against each other for the tickets.

Two ministers — Seema Trikha from Badkhal and Dr Banwari Lal from Bawal — are among the MLAs dropped. The rest of the five are Satya Prakash Jarawata from Pataudi, Jagdish Nayyar from Hodal, Parveen Dagar from Hathin, state BJP president Mohan Lal Badoli from Rai and Nirmal Rani from Ganaur. Badoli had already announced not to contest the elections.

Krishna Gehlawat, a woman Jat face, replaced Badoli from Rai. Bimla Chaudhary will contest from Pataudi and Pardeep Sangwan from Baroda.

BJP fields Grover from Rohtak, Pawan Saini from Naraingarh

Dr Pawan Saini, a former MLA, was named from Naraingarh, an assembly constituency that was won by chief minister Nayab Singh Saini in his first election in 2014. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP candidate had trailed badly from this assembly segment.

Minister Om Parkash Yadav was fielded from Narnaul, Dhanesh Adhlakha of Haryana Pharmacy Council from Badkhal, and Dr Krishan Kumar, a former director general of health services, from Bawal.

From Pehowa, BJP replaced Kamaljeet Ajrana with Jai Bhagwan Sharma. The move was prompted following stiff opposition from locals against the candidature of Ajrana. He was named in the first list of the party as former minister and incumbent MLA Sandeep Singh was denied renomination. Ajrana had faced criticism and left BJP firefighting after his pictures with Pakistan Army officers went viral. His videos allegedly condemning PM Narendra Modi had gone viral too.

From Rohtak, BJP fielded Manish Grover who had earlier announced not to con test the elections. Cabinet minister Sanjay Singh will contest from riot-hit Nuh assembly constituency. In the rest of the two constituencies of Mewat, BJP named Mohammad Aizaz Khan, the son of former minister of home for state Sardar Khan, from Punhana and Naseem Ahmed from Firozpur Jhirka.
In its first list of 67 candidates, BJP had introduced 40 new faces and dropped sitting MLAs, including ministers.

Other significant names dropped so far include former minister and heavyweight Ram Bilas Sharma, former minister Zakir Hussain, former minister Bakshish Singh Virk, Gopal Kanda’s brother Gobind Kanda, who had contested Ellenabad byelection on a BJP ticket, Meenu Beniwal, aheavyweight who had been in the good books of Union minister Manohar Lal Khattar as well as the BJP high command, and wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt.

In southern Haryana and NCR region, BJP has given weight to the recommendations made by Union minister Rao Inderjit Singh while picking candidates.

BJP has 41 MLAs in the current assembly.

Haryana assembly elections: Vinesh Phogat likely to contest from Julana

Olympian Vinesh Phogat and wrestler Bajrang Punia have joined the Congress party, with Phogat expected to run in the Julana assembly elections. This comes after their protests against sexual harassment allegations involving former BJP MP and WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. Phogat expressed gratitude for public support during her wrestling career.

In 1st list, BJP drops sitting MLA from Ggn, fields wrestler-turned-politician

BJP has unveiled its initial list of candidates for the Haryana assembly election, opting to replace several incumbent MLAs with former MPs and state ministers. This strategy is aimed at mitigating anti-incumbency sentiment. Notable changes include new candidates for Gurgaon, Sohna, and Badshapur constituencies. Some candidate announcements are still awaited.

Who is Captain Yogesh Bairagi? BJP candidate against Vinesh Phogat in Haryana

The BJP has announced Captain Yogesh Bairagi, a former Air India pilot renowned for his rescue efforts during Chennai floods and participation in the Vande Bharat mission, as its candidate for Julana assembly constituency. At present, he serves as vice president of Haryana BJP's youth wing and aims to tackle unemployment in his native village.