Poll dreams jam Haryana Bhavan road

With candidates’ lists being prepared inside,Haryana Bhavan is packed with Congress aspirants and their supporters,standing in tight circles and nervously checking their cellphones. On a ledge by the entrance,a group clad in white kurta-pyjamas look despondent on Wednesday. They are supporters of Naresh Sharma,a Congress ticket-seeker for Badli Assembly constituency.

Sharma’s son Gaurav says his father had won the constituency in the last elections as an Independent. This time around,he wants the Congress banner behind him. They have been camping here for the last two weeks. Suddenly,a cellphone rings and a voice from behind the group shouts out that a television channel has announced Sharma’s name to be on the candidate list.

The crowd leaps from the ledge and surrounds Gaurav as he celebrates.

Sharma’s brother Sri Om Sharma says 68 candidates have been announced so far. He anticipates that the final list,with names of all 90 Congress candidates for Haryana,will be put up by late Wednesday night.

The crowd,though,has begun to thin out at Maharashtra Bhavan,which shares a boundary wall with its Haryana counterpart: the candidates’ list has been finalised,and ticket seekers have little else to seek. At the guest house inside,Bhavani Dutt,a room boy,says most people are checking out today.