Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Naveen Jindal and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate Sushil Gupta on Thursday filed their nomination papers from the Kurukshetra Lok Sabha seat.

AAP, a constituent of opposition’s INDIA bloc, is contesting the Kurukshetra seat in Haryana while the remaining nine seats in the state are being contested by the Congress.

Jindal, 54 years old, was accompanied by Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini when he went to file his nomination papers. Later, he also addressed a public gathering in which his family members and BJP leaders, including the chief minister, were present.

Jindal, who joined the BJP in March after leaving the Congress, was an MP from Kurukshetra between 2004-2014. He is facing Indian National Lok Dal’s (INLD) senior leader Abhay Singh Chautala and Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Sushil Gupta, among others.

AAP candidate Sushil Gupta filed his nomination before the returning officer in the presence of Senior Congress leader and former Chief Minister Bhupendra Singh Hooda. Before the nomination, Hooda addressed the large gathering at Sector 17 in Kurukshetra. Hitting out at BJP, Hooda said that during his government, Haryana was at number one in sports and in terms of per capita income. Today it is number one in deteriorating law and order situation and unemployment. Youths are compelled to go abroad for jobs, he added.

Hooda highlighted the promises made by the Congress in its manifesto and said they will come with a law to ensure MSP for the farming community. The nomination process for the 10 Lok Sabha constituencies in Haryana, for which polling will be held on May 25, began on Monday. The deadline for filing nominations is May 6. The scrutiny of nominations will be done on May 7, and candidates can withdraw their nominations until May 9.