Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former party chief Rahul Gandhi on Saturday urged voters in Haryana to come out in large numbers to cast their vote for the Congress to help initiate a change in the state.

Terming the election underway as "very important," Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi urged them to vote for the Congress for the prosperity of farmers, jobs of youth, safety and respect of women, security and the well-being of every family.

"Every vote you give to Congress will protect the Constitution and will become your weapon against the atrocities of the BJP," he said in a post in Hindi on X.

"We have to form a government of all communities in Haryana, a government with everyone's participation, a government of justice – a Congress government. Now #HaathBadlegaHalaat," he said.

In his appeal, Kharge said on X, "Your one vote will take Haryana on the path of prosperity and social justice." He added, "Before casting your vote on EVM, remember that in the last 10 years, Haryana got nothing except unemployment, inflation, corruption, paper leaks, poor condition of villages and cities, fraud in identity cards, women's insecurity, social discrimination and economic inequality." Their vote today will put an end to all this and Haryana will once again start walking on the path of progress, he said.

"I urge our youth, especially those who are voting for the first time, to participate in this celebration of democracy," he said.

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on X exhorted the voters to defeat the "injustice" done to farmers, youth, and wrestlers, and to vote against the "ten years' misrule" of the BJP in the state.

Polling for all 90 Assembly seats in Haryana began on Saturday morning amid tight security.

The fate of Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, Congress leaders Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Vinesh Phogat, besides the JJP's Dushyant Chautala and 1,027 other candidates, will be decided in the polls in which more than two crore people are eligible to vote.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party is eyeing a hat-trick in the state, while the Congress is hoping to return to power after 10 years.

The counting of votes will be taken up on October 8.

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.

In the last Assembly polls in 2019, the BJP had won 40 seats, the Congress 31 and the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) 10.

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