2 Muslims in fray for BJP in Haryana Assembly polls

New Delhi: The BJP has fielded nine women candidates and two Muslims for the coming Assembly polls in Haryana, where Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar will recontest from Karnal Assembly seat and state unit chief Subhash Barala has been renominated from Tohana. The party’s central election committee (CEC), which met on Sunday evening to finalise the names, released 78 names on Monday, which also included wrestler Babita Phogat, former Indian hockey captain Sandeep Singh and Olympic medallist Yogeshwar Dutt.

While Ms Phogat will contest from Dadri, the former hockey captain will stand from Pehowa and Mr Dutta from Baroda. The trio had joined the saffron fold recently. Elections will be held to the 90-member Assembly on October 21 along with Maharashtra, where the BJP is yet to officially announce its seat-sharing formula with allies, including the Shiv Sena. The last date for the filing of nominations is October 4.

The BJP also fielded two Muslim candidates in Haryana — Zakir Hussain from Nuh and Naseem Ahmed from Fezozepur Jirka — both in the Mewat region.

BJP leader Arun Singh said 38 MLAs have been renominated while seven have been dropped in the first list.