In the run up to the Haryana Assembly Elections, Congress on Wednesday announced that the party sitting MPs will not be allowed to contest the polls in the state.
The announcement, therefore, puts an end to the speculations of Lok Sabha MP Kumari Selja and Rajya Sabha MP Randeep Surjewala fighting the Haryana polls.
Congress General Secretary and Haryana in-charge Deepak Babaria said that parliamentarians from the party will not be allowed to contest the assembly polls.
“No one will be given permission to contest,” Babaria told reporters in response to a question whether sitting MPs would be allowed to contest Haryana polls. He added that the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs would campaign for the party contestants for the state elections.
The announcement comes amid reports that Selja and Surjewala were likely to contest the assembly polls. Selja, Lok Sabha MP from Sirsa, had expressed her interest in contesting the upcoming assembly elections. She is also a prominent Dalit face of the Congress.
The Haryana unit of the BJP had even dared Congress to declare Kumari Selja as its chief ministerial candidate to prove how committed it is to the well-being of the SC community.
“The BJP has already nominated a chief minister from the backward class. Rahul Gandhi claims to strongly support the SC community. Let them (Congress) declare Selja ji as the chief ministerial candidate from Haryana so that one can know how much of a well-wisher of the (SC) community they are,” Haryana BJP posted on X in Hindi.
The Congress held a meeting earlier today, where the party arrived at an agreement on at least 18 seats in the 90-seat assembly.
Babaria also said that the sitting MLAs, who face anti-incumbency or have bad image in their constituency, will not be given tickets for the upcoming election.
The Haryana assembly elections will be conducted on October 1, while the results will be announced on October 4. However, the Haryana BJP had last week written to the Election Commission requesting a brief postponement of the polls, citing holidays before and after the election date that could lead to lower voter turnout.