Elections in Haryana, which is a state in India, have been conducted since 1967 to elect the members of state-level Haryana Legislative Assembly and national-level Lok Sabha. There are 90 assembly constituencies (17 reserved for SC) and 10 Lok Sabha constituencies (2 reserved for SC).
History
Before formation of Haryana
Prior to Haryana's establishment as a separate state in 1966, after carving out Haryana from Punjab, elections in Haryana were part of elections in unified Punjab. Cis-Sutlej states, which included princely states of Jind, Kaithal and Kalsia, as well as the parts of princely states of Patiala and Nabha falling in Haryana, were merged with the PEPSU Legislative Assembly (which existed from 1948 to 1956). On 1 November 1956, PEPSU was merged mostly into Punjab State following the States Reorganisation Act. Part of former state of PEPSU lie within the present state of Haryana which was separated from Punjab on 1 November 1966, those parts include the area around Jind and the Narnaul enclave. Until 1967 elections in Haryana were part of the Elections in Punjab.
After formation of Haryana Haryana was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 November 1966 on linguistic as well as on cultural basis. Since 1967 elections have been held by the Election Commission of Haryana.Parties seek women's votes but not representation in Assembly, Daily Pioneer, 09 October 2019. 1st (1951), 2nd (1957) and 3rd (1962) Lok Sabha elections (also called general elections) were held when Haryana was still part of Punjab. Haryana was divided into 10 Lok Sabha constituencies, out of which 2 are reserved. After the electoral boundaries delimitation in 2007 by the Delimitation Commission of India, Bhiwani and Mahendragarh constituencies became dysfunctional and those were replaced by 2 new reorganised constituencies.All-Jat contest in Haryana's Badhra assembly constituency set for nail-biting finish, Hindustan Times, 18 October 2019.
Delimitation After formation of Haryana in 1966, the composition of Lok Sabha was changed and seats were enhanced to accommodate additional seats from the newly formed state of Haryana.Explained: Why Lok Sabha is still 543, Indian Express, 14 October 2019. Last delimitation of electoral boundaries of Lok Sabha and Legislative Assembly constituencies in Haryana was done by the Delimitation Commission of India in 2007-08.Haryana Assembly Election 2019, Panipat City profile: Snatched from Congress in 2014, BJP heads to defend turf, First Post, Haryana Assembly Election 2019, Panipat City profile: Snatched from Congress in 2014, BJP heads to defend turf. After the delimitation in 2007-08, Bhiwani and Mahendragarh constituencies were merged to form Bhiwani–Mahendragarh and a new Gurgaon Lok Sabha constituency was craved out by bifurcating the existing Faridabad Lok Sabha Constituency.Lok Sabha 2019: A Guide To Phase 6, The Quint, 11 May 2019.
Currently Haryana has 10 Lok Sabha and 90 Legislative Assembly seats, of which 2 Lok Sabha and 17 Legislative Assembly seats are reserved for the Scheduled Castes. For the 2026 delimitation, Haryana is proposed to have 14 Lok Sabha and 126 Legislative Assembly seats, of which 3 Lok Sabha (1 more) and 25 Legislative Assembly (8 more) seats will be reserved. This will add 4 Lok Sabha and 36 Legislative Assembly seats to Haryana.हरियाणा में अब चुनावाें में बदलेंगे सियासी समीकरण, होंगी 14 लोकसभा और 126 विधानसभा सीटें, Jagran, 29 July 2021.
Major Political Parties In politics of Haryana, the Indian National Congress (INC), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) are the major political parties in the state. In the past, various parties such as Haryana Vikas Party (HVP), Haryana Janhit Congress (BL) (HJC-BL), Janata Dal (JD), Janata Party (JP), Vishal Haryana Party (VHP), Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS) among others have been influential in the state.
The dynastic political clans of Haryana are often criticised for the infamous self-serving politics of the Aaya Ram Gaya Ram turncoats who notoriously engage in the frequent party switching, political horse trading, unholy political alliances, political corruption, political cronyism, nepotistic-dynastic rule which serves their own clan more than it serves their voters and people of Haryana they are ought to serve.In the land of fence-sitters, Millennium Post.How 5 families over 3 generations have controlled Haryana's politics from day one, The Print,-29 Apr 2019.
Conducting elections
Elections in Haryana are conducted by the Haryana State Election Commission (HSEC). which operates under the Election Commission of India (ECI). Administration of HSEC at state level is under the "Chief Electoral Officer of Haryana", who is an IAS officer of Principal Secretary rank. At the district and constituency levels, the District Magistrates (in their capacity as District Election Officers), Electoral Registration Officers and Returning Officers perform election work. Election Commission of India is an autonomous constitutional authority responsible for administering election processes in India at national, state and district level. The body administers elections to the Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, state Legislative Assemblies, state legislative Councils, and the offices of the President and Vice President of the country. The Election Commission operates under the authority of Constitution per Article 324, and subsequently enacted Representation of the People Act.
Type of elections Haryana, after being separated from Punjab, first went to polls in 1967. Lok Sabha elections, also called the General Elections, are held at national level, Legislative Assembly elections are held to elect the state level assembly, and the grassroots local self-governance elections are held at Municipal and Gram panchayat (village council) level.
Lok Sabha elections
Haryana has 10 Lok Sabha constituencies, including 2 reserved constituencies (Ambala and Sirsa).
Current constituency
Ambala Bhiwani–Mahendragarh Faridabad Gurgaon Hisar Karnal Kurukshetra Rohtak Sirsa Sonipat
Defunct constituency
Bhiwani Mahendragarh
List of Lok Sabha elections in Haryana. Lok Sabha Total Seats Party-wise Details4th9Total: 9. INC: 7, BJS: 1, Independent: 15th9Total: 9. INC: 7, BJS: 1, VHP: 16th10Total: 10. Janata Party/BLD: 10.7th10Total: 10. Congress(Indira): 5, JP(S): 4, JP: 18th10Total: 10. INC: 109th10Total: 10. Janata Dal: 6, INC: 410th10Total: 10. INC: 9, HVP: 111th10Total: 10. BJP: 4 + HVP: 3, INC: 2, Independent: 112th10Total: 10. HLD(R): 4 + BSP: 1, INC: 3, NDA: 2 (BJP: 1 and HVP: 1)13th10Total: 10. NDA: 10 (BJP: 5 and INLD: 5), INC: 014th10Total: 10. INC: 9, BJP: 115th10Total: 10. INC: 9, HJC(BL): 116th10Total: 10. BJP: 7, INLD: 2, INC: 1 17th10Total: 10. BJP: 10, INLD: 0, INC: 0 18th10Total: 10. BJP: 5, INC: 5, INLD: 0
Legislative Assembly Elections
The elections for the Haryana Legislative Assembly are being held since 1967.
Year Legislative Assembly Party-wise Details Chief Minister Party1962*1st Constituted out of Punjab assemblyBhagwat Dayal SharmaINC19672nd Total: 81. INC: 48, BJS: 12, Independents: 16Rao Birender SinghVHP (defected from INC), infamous Aaya Ram Gaya Ram startedAs turncoats grab headlines, a look back at the original ‘Aaya Ram, Gaya Ram’, The Print, 19 May 2018.19683rd Total: 81. INC: 48, VHP: 16, BJS: 7Chaudhary Bansi LalINC19724th Total: 81. INC: 52, NCO: 12Chaudhary Bansi Lal Banarsi Das GuptaINC19775th Total: 90. Janata: 75, VHP: 5, INC: 3Chaudhary Devi Lal Bhajan LalJP JP/INC(defected)19826th Total: 90. INC: 36, Lok Dal: 31 + BJP: 6, Independents: 16 Bhajan Lal Chaudhary Bansi LalINC19877th Total: 90. Lok Dal: 60 + BJP: 16, INC: 5 Chaudhary Devi Lal Om Prakash Chautala Banarsi Das Gupta Ch. Hukam Singh PhogatLok Dal/JD19918th Total: 90. INC: 51 Bhajan LalINC19969th Total: 90. HVP: 33 + BJP: 11, SAP: 24, INC: 9Chaudhary Bansi LalHVP200010th Total: 90. INLD: 47 + BJP: 6, INC: 21 Om Prakash ChautalaINLD200511th Total: 90. INC: 67, INLD: 9Bhupinder Singh HoodaINC200912th Total: 90. INC: 40, INLD: 31, HJC(BL): 6, BJP: 4Bhupinder Singh HoodaINC201413th Total: 90. BJP: 47 (post-defections 52), INLD: 19, INC: 15Manohar Lal KhattarBJP201914th Total: 90. BJP: 40, INC: 31, JJP: 10, Others : 9Manohar Lal KhattarBJP202415th Total: 90. BJP: 48, INC: 37, INLD: 2, Others : 3Nayab Singh SainiBJP
Local elections
Local self-government in India refers to governmental jurisdictions below the level of the state in the federal republic of India with three spheres of government: central (union), state and local. The 73rd and 74th constitutional amendments give recognition and protection to local governments and in addition each state has its own local government legislation. Since 1993, local government in India takes place in two very distinct forms. Urban localities, covered in the 74th amendment to the Constitution,The Constitution (Seventy-fourth Amendment) Act, 1992 have Nagar Palika but derive their powers from the individual state governments, while the powers of rural localities have been formalized under the panchayati raj system, under the 73rd amendment to the Constitution.The Constitution (Seventy-third Amendment) Act, 1992 District Magistrates (in their capacity as District Election Officers), Electoral Registration Officers and Returning Officers are responsible for conducting municipal and panchayat raj elections at village, block and district level.
Haryana has 22 districts, 72 sub-divisions, 93 tehsils, 50 sub-tehsils, 142 blocks, 154 cities and towns, 6,841 villages, 6,212 villages panchayats and numerous smaller dhanis. Haryana has at least 10 municipal corporations (Gurugram, Faridabad, Ambala, Panchkula, Yamunanagar, Rohtak, Hisar, Panipat, Karnal and Sonepat), 18 municipal councils and 52 municipalities (c. Jan 2018).Municipal taxes will be sanctioned to the weak bodies of the state, Dainik Jagran news , 11 January 2018. See the partial list (please help expand) of and .
Electoral demography
Voters
According to Election Commission of Haryana, Haryana had a population of 2,1145,000 and 25,352,000 in 2001 and 2011 respectively.Haryana electoral data in brief, Election Commission of Haryana, retrieved 17 October 2019. In October 2019, Haryana had 1,82,98,714 voters, including 1,81,91,228 general voters and 1,07,486 Service Voters (postal voters), who will cast votes 19,425 polling stations for the 2019 Haryana Legislative Assembly election.Haryana Assembly Election 2019, Narnaul profile: Marking first win in 2014, BJP likely to fight hard to retain constituency, First Post, 17 October 2019. Psephologists, electoral data scientists, political analysts, Political forecasters, opinion polls and media often analyse and discuss the electoral demography in terms of gender, age group, castes, electoral geography, ethnic enclaves, swing of voters from/to a particular party or candidate.
According to 2011 Census of India, there are 87.46% Hindus, 7.03% Muslims (mainly Meos), and 4.91% Sikhs. In terms of native language, 87.31% use Hindi, 10.57% Punjabi, and 1.23% Urdu. Haryana has 70% rural population who primarily speak Haryanvi dialect of Hindi, and related dialects, such as Bagri and Mewati.
Psephological regions
Haryana was made a separate state on linguistic and cultural basis. Consequently, within the limited context of elections the psephologists often refer to various geo-ethnic enclaves and geo-linguistic areas of Haryana, which are the Ahirwal, Deshwal belt, GT Road belt, Jat belt, Mewat, Punjabi belt, and Ror belt.Haryana assembly elections: BJP counts on strategy, Times of India, 6 October 2019. Description of these psephological regions is as follows: Ahirwal region in South Haryana, centered around Rewari, has 11 assembly segments spread over three Lok Sabha seats — Bhiwani-Mahendergarh (Mahendergarh district only), Gurgaon and Rohtak only Kosli constituency. Ahirs are numerically founder higher here.