Polling for all 90 Assembly seats in Haryana commenced on Saturday morning under stringent security measures, according to officials.
The election will determine the fate of Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, Congress leaders Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Vinesh Phogat, as well as the JJP's Dushyant Chautala and 1,027 other candidates. Over two crore people are eligible to cast their votes.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) aims for a third consecutive victory in the state's Assembly elections, while the Congress aspires to reclaim power after a decade.
Vote counting is scheduled for October 8.
Voting is scheduled from 7 am to 6 pm.
Haryana's Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Pankaj Agarwal previously reported that 2,03,54,350 voters, including 8,821 centenarians, are eligible to participate in the electoral process.
A total of 1,031 candidates are contesting the election, including 101 women and 464 Independent nominees.
A total of 20,632 polling booths have been set up, Agarwal had said.
Besides the BJP and the Congress, the key contesting parties are the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the INLD-BSP and JJP-Azad Samaj Party alliances.
In the last Assembly polls in 2019, the BJP had won 40 seats, the Congress 31 and the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) 10.
The Congress has left the Bhiwani seat for its INDIA bloc partner CPI(M), while the BJP is not contesting the Sirsa seat, from where Haryana Lokhit Party chief Gopal Kanda is seeking re-election.
Most seats will likely see a direct fight between the BJP and the Congress.
Prominent among those in the fray are Chief Minister Saini (from Ladwa), Leader of Opposition B S Hooda (Garhi Sampla-Kiloi), Indian National Lok Dal's (INLD) Abhay Singh Chautala (Ellenabad), JJP's Dushyant Chautala (Uchana Kalan), BJP's Anil Vij (Ambala Cantonment), "Captain" Abhimanyu (Narnaund) and O P Dhankar (Badli), AAP's Anurag Dhanda (Kalayat) and Congress's Phogat, a former wrestler, from Julana.
Nearly 30,000 police personnel and 225 paramilitary companies have been deployed, as well as an adequate number of home guard personnel.
Adequate police presence will be maintained at the polling booths and other locations. More than 3,616 polling booths have been classified as sensitive and 145 deemed vulnerable, necessitating additional security measures.
The state has also formed 516 flying squads, 469 static-surveillance teams, and 32 quick-response teams to maintain law and order and ensure compliance with the Model Code of Conduct. Additionally, the DGP said 1,156 patrolling parties are actively monitoring the situation.
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