Chandigarh, September 25: The Haryana assembly election next month is headed for a bigger contest than in the past with 1,874 candidates filing their nominations till Friday evening.
Friday was the last day for filing nominations for the 90 seats. Election to the assembly takes place Oct 13.
The number of candidates has gone up considerably compared to the February 2005 and February 2000 elections when respectively 1,449 and 1,480 candidates had filed their nominations.
The ruling Congress has fielded its candidates in all 90 constituencies. It announced the names of its candidates for the last five constituencies Friday.
The party has dropped 13 sitting legislators, including former deputy chief minister and four-time legislator Chander Mohan, from its list.
Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda from Garhi Sampla-Kiloi and Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) president Om Prakash Chautala were among the prominent people who filed their nomination papers Friday.
While Hooda is contesting from only one constituency, Chautala is contesting two seats, Uchana Kalan and Ellenabad.
The contest on most seats will be 5-6-cornered as none of the major parties has formed any pre-poll alliance.
The Hooda government last month recommended dissolution of the assembly seven months ahead of the schedule and sought a fresh poll.
The Congress romped home with nine out of 10 Lok Sabha seats in the state in the April-May Lok Sabha elections this year. With the opposition in disarray, the Congress went in for early assembly polls.
—IANS