Will BJP or Congress, Modi or Rahul, win the Haryana assembly election?

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Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Sonipat/Hisar/Sirsa: As night falls in Kulana village in Haryana’s Hisar district, a motley crowd of farmers and day-wage earners gathers to exchange views on the issues of the day. “Today, no one goes to sleep hungry.

But most of us cannot afford decent healthcare and education," says one. “Politicians try to divide us on caste lines. But what we need is a fair price for crops and assured water supply for irrigation," chimes in another.

Ahead of the state elections, scheduled for 5 October, it is not uncommon to hear the common man in the state air such grievances. Bordering national capital Delhi, Haryana is among the richest states in India, with a per capita income ( ₹2.96 lakh in 2022-23) about 1.7 times the national average. While the numbers would suggest people in the state are better off than their compatriots elsewhere, the locals do not quite see things that way.

Kulana, for instance, is another world compared to the prosperous and urbanized parts of the state, far from the luxury-car outlets along Grand Trunk Road and gated high-rises in urban Gurgaon. An estimated 65% of the population lives in villages, and this rustic backyard is today setting the agenda for the elections. Unlike in earlier years, when the assembly poll was a multi-cornered contest, the polls this year are a straight fight between the incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has ruled Haryana for two back-to-back terms, and the opposition Indian National Congress (INC), which has ruled the state off and on since its founding.