M A I N   N E W S

Hisar debacle triggers blame game in Congress
Selja, Birender, Kiran Chaudhary accused of anti-party activity; may face disciplinary action
Geetanjali Gayatri
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 21
Post-election, an open war has broken out in the Haryana Congress with the general body today passing a resolution seeking disciplinary action against senior leaders - Union Minister Kumari Selja, Rajya Sabha MP Birender Singh and Haryana Cabinet Minister Kiran Chaudhary - for sabotaging the Hisar bypoll.

At a general body meeting of the state unit of the party where speakers repeatedly sought disciplinary action against leaders of the “dissident camp” for anti-party activity without naming them directly, the Congress candidate, Jai Prakash, JP as he is generally referred to, set a one-month deadline for action against the three leaders.

“If the Central leadership fails to act within this stipulated time, I along with 20,000 supporters will shuttle between Delhi and Hisar and even sit on a dharna in Delhi till the Adampur bypoll to press for our demand,” JP asserted at the meeting which was given a miss by the dissident camp.

The Congress leaders harped on the fact the Hisar defeat was the outcome of the party’s inability to take action against anti-party activities in the earlier elections. Sitting as well as former MLAs, including Ram Kishen Fauji, Ranbir Mohindra and HJC-turned-Congressman Satpal Sanghwan, emphasised that a semblance of discipline can be brought into the Congress only if such leaders, irrespective of their status, are brought to book or even ousted from the party.

Rattling out details, JP alleged that the three leaders and a ticket-aspirant Chattar Pal openly canvassed against him and some even sought votes for the Hayana Janhit Congress. “I was repeatedly humiliated by these leaders who did not come for my programmes despite repeated requests, distributed pamphlets against me and even sought votes for rival candidates. They worked under the presumption that if we lose Hisar, the CM will be ousted and one of them will get a chance,” he alleged at the meeting in which the speakers underlined “poor performance” by MP Naveen Jindal and even sought the expulsion of Chattar Pal. JP also raised the issue of government employees working as agents of rival candidates and sought their immediate transfer. He demanded the constitution of a committee for a detailed report on how Congress fared in each constituency.

PWD Minister Randeep Singh Surjewala said while casteism and regionalism played its role in adversely impacting the poll results, the Congress leaders were too busy chasing CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda around the constituency or addressing press conferences rather than establishing people-to-people contact. He suggested that instead of developing a fixation for the Hisar defeat, it would do the party a world of good if duties for the Adampur and Ratia bypoll can be fixed well in advance to make a headway since both the segments haven’t traditionally been Congress seats.