Congress' CEC clears 34 names of candidates for Haryana Assembly polls

Depak Babariya also said the speculation surrounding Vinesh Phogat would also be laid to rest by Tuesday

The Congress' Central Election Committee met here on Monday and finalised the names of 34 candidates for the assembly polls in Haryana.

The AICC's Haryana in-charge Depak Babaria said a final list would be released together by Wednesday.

He also said the speculation surrounding Vinesh Phogat would also be laid to rest by Tuesday.

"Today, a meeting was held for Haryana by the Central Election Committee (CEC). A list of 49 names was presented by the state's screening committee, out of which 34 have been approved and 15 are pending," Babaria said.

"Names of 22 (sitting) MLAs have also been cleared. The meeting will continue tomorrow (Tuesday) and hopefully the final list will be announced the day after tomorrow," he said.

Babaria said some names had been sent to the review committee and a call would be taken on those on Tuesday by the panel, which includes the Congress' Haryana unit chief and the legislature party leader.

Babaria said the criteria for candidature was based on winnability of leaders whose names came up in surveys and who had not lost elections more than two times.

Sources said former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda's name was also on the list approved on Monday.

The Election Commission on Saturday deferred the Haryana assembly poll date to October 5 from October 1, saying the decision was taken keeping in mind a centuries-old festival of the Bishnoi community.

The counting of votes for Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana assembly polls will be held on October 8, the poll body said.