Wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Poonia, both from Haryana, met the Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday, as the state gears up for elections a month from now.

The Congress party also took to social media to share photos of Rahul Gandhi with the wrestler duo.

The meeting comes amid heightened speculations of wrestler Vinesh Phogat making her debut in the Haryana Assembly elections on a Congress ticket.

The meeting also assumes significance because the Congress party is understood to be giving last-minute touches to the list of candidates for the poll-bound state.

As per reports, the Congress Central Election Committee has finalised names of 34 candidates for the 90-member Haryana Assembly so far. The state’s screening committee had presented 49 names to the Central panel, out of which 34 names were finalised and 15 are under further deliberation.

At least seven pilgrims, comprising three women, were killed and eight injured in a road crash in Haryana's Jind district early Tuesday, police said.

All the passengers were trapped inside the vehicle, and the spot was filled with screams.

The accident occurred on the Hisar-Chandigarh National Highway when a truck loaded with logs rear-ended a passenger van (Tata Magic). After the crash, the van veered off the road and fell into a ditch. The van, carrying devotees, was going from Haryana's Kurukshetra to Gogamedi in the Hanumangarh district of Rajasthan.

The truck driver fled from the spot after the accident.

The General Secretary of the All India Congress Committee, former Union Minister, and MP from Sirsa, Kumari Selja rejected all the claims made by the BJP government in the state. She said that in the last ten years, the BJP has not developed the state but rather destroyed it. Small and large cities in every district of the state are struggling with issues like traffic jams, waterlogging, sewer blockages or overflows, drinking water crises, and street light problems. The big cities come to a standstill because of traffic jams, while life seems to float in waterlogged areas.

Shambhu border of Haryana-Punjab will not open yet. A hearing on this matter was held in the Supreme Court on Monday. In which the SC has formed the High Power Committee. The Supreme Court said that we are forming a committee, but are not deciding on any issue. This authority is being given to the committee. Officials of Punjab and Haryana are also included in this committee.

The General Secretary of the All India Congress Committee, former Union Minister, and Sirsa MP Kumari Selja said that from the very beginning, the intentions of the state's BJP government regarding providing employment have been flawed. This is why it never took any meaningful steps to fill the two lakh vacant posts. The slogan-chanting BJP government kept making announcements for recruitments. Now that the model code of conduct is in place in the state, the Haryana Staff Selection Commission is seeking permission from the Election Commission for recruitments, which the Commission has clearly refused. The Commission is now asking for permission, even though it sat idle for nine years and eleven months. It should issue a white paper and inform the public about what it has done in its nearly ten-year tenure. 

A day after an employee of the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) succumbed to his injuries after being abducted and thrashed over an alleged affair with the wife of one of the accused, the Gurugram Police on Friday arrested three persons in connection with the case.

The arrested persons have been identified as Pankaj, Vikas, and Jitesh, while the prime accused Ramveer, with whose wife the victim allegedly had an affair, is still on the run. The suspects were arrested by a Crime Branch team from the Basai area on Friday.

The deceased, Naresh Kumar, was a supervisor in the sanitation wing of the municipal body.

The General Secretary of the All India Congress, former Union Minister, and MP from Sirsa, Kumari Selja said that while the BJP government of the state is busy patting itself on the back for its development, the people of the state are struggling for basic facilities. Essential services such as health, education, electricity, and water have been confined to paper. The state's healthcare services are the most fragile; deliveries are happening either on hospital floors or outside the hospitals, there are places without doctors, and where there are doctors, there are no medicines or paramedical staff. Government hospitals have been reduced to mere referral centers. Patients are being misled about the Ayushman cards, and such patients do not even receive treatment when doctors are not paid. The public is aware of all this and cannot be misled. The people, frustrated for the past ten years, have now decided to oust the BJP government, and in this election, the public will teach the BJP a lesson by voting against it.

Doctors in Gurugram have successfully treated a 60-year-old woman who was suffering from paralysis in both legs due to a significant spinal tumour.

The patient had initially sought treatment at a local hospital and then shifted focus to CK Birla Hospital in Gurugram because the primary investigations failed to pinpoint what her condition was.

The doctors found that the woman had a sizable tumour in her spine. The tumour had severely impacted her ability to perform daily activities, leaving her dependent on her children for even the simplest tasks

The doctors informed her about the microscopic tumour removal surgery that could restore her to a mobile state.

“Utilising the latest advancements in microscopic spine surgery and neuromonitoring techniques, the tumour excision surgery was performed successfully. These technologies play a crucial role in enhancing the precision and dexterity of spinal procedures,” Dr Arun Bhanot, Director-Spine Surgery, CK Birla Hospital Gurugram told.

Gurugram Police, on Thursday, arrested one person in connection with jewellery theft worth Rs 50 lakh at a jewellery shop in Sector 66 here.

According to the police, they received a complaint on Wednesday in which the complainant stated that in the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday, an unknown person stole jewellery worth Rs 50 lakh from his sister's jewellery shop located in Sector 66 in Gurugram.

Based on the complaint, a joint team of crime branches from Sector 40 and Sector 65 police stations nabbed the accused, namely Sandeep (26), a native of Palwal, from Rajouri Garden, Delhi, on Thursday.

"During interrogation, the accused revealed that he worked as a driver for about 52 days in July 2024 with the victim, but due to his bad behaviour, he was fired from the job. His (accused) mother was also suffering from cancer, due to which the accused had a debt of Rs 10 lakh. To pay the debt amount, the accused committed the crime," Sandeep Kumar, spokesperson of the Gurugram Police, said.

In preparation for the Haryana Assembly elections, the BJP’s Central Election Committee meeting is scheduled for Thursday evening.

The meeting to finalise the candidates will be held under the chairmanship of BJP President JP Nadda in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Before the Election Committee meeting in the evening, a discussion between the core group of Haryana BJP leaders is going on at the residence of JP Nadda in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah to discuss the names of candidates.

Before the talks at JP Nadda's residence, a meeting of Haryana BJP leaders was also held early on Thursday morning at the residence of Dharmendra Pradhan.

The ongoing meeting at JP Nadda's residence will involve discussions on candidates for each seat, and a final panel will be prepared. This panel will be presented for final approval at the party's Central Election Committee meeting later in the day.

Thursday evening’s Election Committee meeting will be attended by state Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, Haryana BJP President Mohan Lal Badoli, Union Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, National General Secretary of the party BL Santosh, Union Minister and Haryana Election Incharge Dharmendra Pradhan, Haryana Election Co-incharge and former Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb, MPs Rao Inderjit Singh and Krishan Pal Gurjar.