New Delhi: After BJP, Congress also released its first list of candidates for Haryana assembly elections late on Friday night. The 32 leaders who have got tickets in Congress' first list also include the names of former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav's son-in-law. If we look at this list, it is clear that Congress has given tickets to most of its loyalists and MLAs from the Bhupendra Singh Hooda faction. Only four leaders from the Selja faction have got tickets. 

Hooda dominates Congress' first list

According to the information, out of the 32 candidates whose list has been released by the Congress, 23 candidates are considered to be supporters of Hooda. While four candidates are said to be associated with the Kumari Selja faction. According to sources, among the candidates of the Hooda faction, the names of state president Udaybhan, Neeraj Sharma, former minister Geeta Bhukkal, Dharampal Singh Gondar, Ramkaran and Vinesh Phogat are prominent. Most of the MLAs who have got tickets are those who have been repeated by the party. 

He got a ticket from Kumari Selja group

In the first list of Congress, Shaili Gurjar from Narayangarh, Shamsher Singh Gogi from Assandh, and Renu Bala from Sadhora have got tickets. They are considered to be from the Kumari Selja faction. According to sources, leaders from the Kumari Selja faction had claimed several seats but the party did not bother to cut tickets of sitting MLAs.

 Lalu Yadav's son-in-law also got a ticket

In the first list of Congress, Chiranjeev Rao has got a ticket from Rewari. He is an MLA from here. Chiranjeev is the son of former Haryana cabinet minister Captain Ajay Singh Yadav and son-in-law of former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Yadav. Chiranjeev is married to Lalu's sixth daughter Anushka. Rao defeated the BJP candidate by 1317 votes in the last election. His father Ajay Yadav has also been an MLA from here.