New Delhi: Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge intervened to curb infighting in the Haryana unit as he did not want factional squabbles to mar the grand old party’s prospects in the October 5 assembly polls.
The Congress senses a return to power in Haryana after a gap of 10 years based on internal surveys which favour the grand old party over the ruling BJP.
After the announcement of the tickets for the 90 assembly seats recently, things had been going on smoothly for the Congress in Haryana till a miffed Kumari Selja suddenly withdrew herself from active campaign from September 12 onwards.
Though the high command had accommodated around nine candidates suggested by Kumari Selja and given them tickets, she was upset as the rival Hooda camp had allegedly fielded independent candidates on several of those Assembly seats including Ballabhgarh, Tigaon, Bawani Khera and Panipat Rural.
Days before the ticket distribution, Selja, a former state unit chief, had publicly expressed her desire to be Chief Minister which had not gone down well with the Hooda camp. According to party insiders, on September 22 Selja met Kharge who assured to look into her grievances. This could mean some kind of give and take which will not dent the chances of Selja's nominees and more prominent campaign roles for her, said party insiders.
Following the meeting with Kharge, Kumari Selja is set to resume her campaign in Narwana from September 26 after a gap of almost two weeks. Randeep Surjewala campaigned in Narwana for party nominee Satbir Dablain on September 23 and promised to bring Congress back to power.
Selja's withdrawal from active campaign in the middle of a tightly contested election had made the high command take note of the old infighting between the senior state leaders belonging to different factions led by former chief minister Bhupinder Hooda, Lok Sabha MP Selja and Rajya Sabha MP Randeep Surjewala.
The BJP too had tried to fish in troubled waters and had floated rumours that Selja was contemplating a switch to the saffron party on the lines of former Congress leader Kiran Chaudhary who joined the ruling party a few months ago and is now a Rajya Sabha member.
"My father was in the Congress. I will also remain in the Congress till my death. During elections, there are small issues at times. We are all working together to ensure a party win. The public mood is against the BJP and they should better look after their own house," Kumari Selja told ETV Bharat.
On September 22, Lok Sabha MP Deepender Hooda, son of Bhupinder Hooda, too had said that all the Haryana leaders were together and would campaign unitedly.
Though a section of the state unit linked the sudden cancellation of Kharge’s two rallies scheduled in Ambala City and Gharaunda on September 23 with the infighting, party insiders clarified that he had been advised to rest and that the state leaders will address the public meetings.
"The BJP government has not done anything over the past 10 years but the saffron party keeps blaming the Congress to hide its failures. The election in Haryana is one-sided in the favour of the Congress but still we are not leaving anything to chance," All India Congress Committee (AICC) secretary in charge of Haryana Manoj Chauhan told ETV Bharat.
