New Delhi: The Congress high command will soon decide on the new leadership in BJP-ruled Haryana, including the state unit chief and the legislative party leader in the Assembly. According to party insiders, the chances of former CLP leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda and state unit chief Udai Bhan, considered to be an aide of Hooda, getting another term were remote in the wake of the poll shocker, which stopped the Congress at 37 seats, nine short of a simple majority needed to form a government.
The Congress high command, including Rahul Gandhi and party chief Kharge, were hopeful of winning Haryana after 10 years, but the saffron party surprisingly secured a third term winning 48 out of 90 seats. “A meeting of the newly-elected MLAs will be held in Chandigarh on October 18. As per tradition, they will authorise the AICC chief to decide on the new CLP leader,” AICC secretary in-charge of Haryana Manoj Chauhan told ETV Bharat.
According to party insiders, the high command has decided to send three AICC observers, including former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot, AICC treasurer Ajay Maken and Punjab CLP leader Partap Singh Bajwa for the Haryana CLP meeting.
The names of the CLP leader and the state unit chief may be from the camps belonging to Hooda and his political rivals Lok Sabha member Kumari Selja and Rajya Sabha member Randeep Surjewala in order to achieve a balance of power.
In a show of strength two days before the CLP meeting, Hooda convened an informal meeting of the newly elected lawmakers on October 16, which six MLAs belonging to the rival camps did not attend. These included Aditya Surjewala, the son of Randeep Surjewala, Chander Mohan, the son of former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal, Shelly Chaudhary, Akram Khan, Renu Bala and Naresh Selwal. Both Randeep Surjewala and Kumari Selja wanted to contest the Assembly polls and had thrown their hats in the ring as the Chief Ministerial probable, but were not allowed by the high command.
While groups among senior Haryana Congress leaders, priority to self-interest over party and the presence of sponsored rebels on around 17 seats were identified as the reasons for the grand old party’s less-than-expected performance, the saffron party’s door-to-door campaign to mobilise public support over thorny issues like angry farmers, upset Jats and Agniveers miffed over service conditions helped the ruling party beat anti-incumbency.
“The party is strong in the state and our vote share is equal to that of the BJP. Yes, we lost some seats and a fact-finding committee is looking into the reasons behind that result. The next line of action on how to strengthen the party in the state will be taken after the report of the fact-finding committee is submitted,” AICC functionary Manoj Chauhan said. “The BJP did nothing for the past 10 years, but it somehow managed to win the elections with the help of EVMs. Now they will have to show results and implement the promises. We will keep a watch,” he added.
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