Phogat, Yogeshwar in BJP’s list of 78 candidates for Haryana polls

New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday released names of 78 contestants for the upcoming assembly elections in Haryana and well-known sports personalities like wrestlers Yogeshwar Dutt and Babita Phogat are part of the list along with Sardar Sandeep Singh, former captain of Indian hockey team.

Although the list was released on Monday, the central election committee (CEC) of BJP met on Sunday to finalize the names. The meeting was attended by BJP president Amit Shah along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari.

“We have given an efficient & honest government under the leadership of chief minister ML Khattar @mlkhattar for last 5 years .. Its time now to seek the blessings for a better mandate from voters,” tweeted B. L. Santhosh, the general secretary (organisation) of national BJP.

BJP leadership has decided that Olympian Yogeshwar Dutt would contest from Baroda while wrestler Babita Phogat who was a gold medalist at the 2014 and 2018 Commonwealth Games will contest from Dadri. Former captain of Indian hockey team, Sandeep Singh, will contest from Pehowa. The three sports personalities are making their political and electoral debut with the assembly elections.

The ruling BJP is in power in Haryana for the first time on its own electoral strength after the party had won 47 out of the 90 seats in 2014 state polls. The party under the leadership of chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar is trying to return to power and make history. The party also announced that Khattar will contest from Karnal, which he won in 2014, while state president of BJP Subhash Barala will contest from Tohana constituency.