Haryana assembly elections: Ashok Tanwar, a turncoat, rejoins Congress after leaving BJP.

New Delhi [India], October 4: Haryana BJP leader Ashok Tanwar joined Congress on Friday, with Congress' senior observer for the Haryana assembly elections, Ajay Maken, in attendance.

Tanwar previously served as the Congress MP from Sirsa, having won the seat in the 2009 general elections.

At 48 years old, he held the position of Haryana Congress Chief from 2014 to 2019 before leaving the party. He then joined the Trinamool Congress in 2021 and switched to the Aam Aadmi Party in 2022.

Before the 2024 general elections, he joined the BJP and contested from Sirsa but lost to Congress' Kumari Selja in that race.

Tanwar made his return to Congress at a rally led by party leader Rahul Gandhi in Mahendragarh, Haryana, on Friday.

In an interview, he criticized the BJP, claiming that the party exploits religion and caste for political gain.

"In recent days, Congress has organized events like the Bharat Jodo Yatra under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge. The Bharat Jodo Yatra provided direction to the nation and helped people regain faith in the Congress party... Rahul Gandhi has emerged as a strong adversary... The BJP uses religion and caste in politics whenever it suits them," Tanwar stated.

As campaigning for the single-phase Haryana Assembly elections wrapped up on Thursday evening, voting is set to occur across 90 constituencies.

The BJP aims to maintain power for a third consecutive term, while the Congress seeks a return after a decade-long absence.

Key parties contesting in Haryana include BJP, Congress, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), and the pre-poll alliance of Indian National Lok Dal-Bahujan Samaj Party (INLD-BSP) and Jannayak Janta Party (JJP)-Azad Samaj Party (ASP).

Voting in Haryana will take place on October 5, from 7 am to 6 pm. A total of 1,031 candidates are vying for seats in all 90 assembly constituencies, with 20,632 polling booths established for the elections.

Haryana Chief Electoral Officer Pankaj Agarwal announced on Thursday that over 2.03 crore voters in the state are eligible to cast their votes in the 15th Haryana Legislative Assembly General Elections.

Agarwal further reported that out of 2,03,54,350 voters, more than 1.07 crore are men, over 95 lakh are women, and 467 belong to the third gender.

There are 5,24,514 young voters aged 18 to 19, and 1,49,142 voters with disabilities, with 93,545 male and 55,591 female voters, plus 6 from the third gender.

Additionally, there are 2,31,093 voters above 85 years old, which includes 89,940 males and 1,41,153 females. Among these, 8,821 voters are over 100 years old, comprising 3,283 males and 5,538 females. The total number of service voters stands at 1,09,217, including 1,04,426 males and 4,791 females.

The Chief Electoral Officer also noted that 1,031 candidates are contesting in these elections, with 930 males and 101 females, among which 464 are independent candidates.

Vote counting is scheduled for October 8. In the 2019 Assembly elections, the BJP won 40 of the 90 seats, forming a coalition government with the JJP, which secured 10 seats, while the Congress won 31 seats. However, the JJP later withdrew from the coalition.