Chandigarh, Oct 5 (UNI) Amidst enthusiasm and an atmosphere of festivity, voting began for the 90-seat Haryana Assembly at 7 am on Saturday.
Voters lined the booths in good numbers even before the polling officially opened, with first-time electors being the most excited.
Around 2.04 crore voters – 1.07 crore men, 95.78 lakh women and 467 transgenders – are set to choose their representatives from a pool of 1031 candidates across the 20,632 booths in the single-phase Assembly election to the north Indian state.
The contestants include 930 males and 101 females. The number of independent candidates is 464.
Polling will officially close at 6 pm, but the voters who reach the booths by that time will be allowed to register their democratic choice even beyond the scheduled time.
The main contest is likely to be between the ruling BJP and the main opposition party Congress, However, the Jannayak Janta Party-Azad Samaj Party alliance, the Indian National Lok Dal-Bahujan Samaj Party alliance and the Aam Aadmi Party are also in the fray.
Besides, there are scores of independent candidates including rebels from the BJP and the Congress making the contest multi-cornered.
Some of the seats that would be keenly watched include Ladwa of Kurukshetra, from where Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini is contesting, Gadhi Sampla Kiloi, from where former CM Bhupendra Singh Hooda is in the fray, Uchana Kalan of Jind, from where former Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala is contesting and Julana of Jind that wrestler Vinesh Phogat has been fielded by the Congress.
The counting of votes will be taken up on October 8.
