Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC-BL), which is contesting the October 15 Assembly polls in alliance with Haryana Jan Chetna Party (HJCP), will announce its candidates on September 25, a HJC leader said today.
The HJC would contest the 65 seats and leave the rest 25 for its ally - former Union minister Venod Sharma-led HJCP in the 90-member Assembly.
Earlier, the two allies were hoping to cobble up a grand alliance by having parties like BSP on board to take on ruling Congress, BJP and INLD, but that did not materialise.
HJC, led by Kuldeep Bishnoi, had broken its alliance with the BJP accusing the saffron party of repeated "betrayal" after which it joined hands with Sharma's party.
Venod Sharma, former Ambala MLA, who recently snapped his four-decade old association with the Congress, floated his own party. His party, the HJCP is also expected to announce its candidates later this week.
Ruling Congress, too, is likely to announce its candidates over the next couple of days.
Meanwhile, BSP which is contesting on its own, has announced that Arvind Sharma will contest from two Assembly segments - Yamunanagar and Rai.
Arvind Sharma, a former Congress MP from Karnal, recently switched over to BSP and was named the party's Chief Ministerial candidate.
The BSP has already announced 42 candidates so far for the 90 assembly seats.
Former Haryana Minister and Independent MLA from Sirsa, Gopal Kanda, who is out on bail in connection with suicide case of air-hostess Geetika Sharma, has also jumped into electoral fray.
Kanda, who was supporting the Hooda government, withdrew his support and floated his own Haryana Lokhit Party in May this year. His party is contesting the polls alone.
The BJP has announced its candidates for the 90-member Assembly, but voices of dissent have been heard within the party over ticket distribution from places like Kaithal, Faridabad, Karnal and Kurukshetra.
BJP is looking to wrest power from Congress in Haryana on its own, making the October 15 Haryana Assembly polls a multi-cornered contest.
