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Party keeps Plan B ready
- To deal with the crisis, the Congress decides to keep Haryana Education Minister Geeta Bhukkal on standby to replace Ashok Tanwar
- The move will facilitate the election nomination process in case Tanwar continues to remain defiant
- Tanwar wasn’t available for comment but sources close to him admit that he is upset with ticket distribution
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New Delhi, September 24
A political crisis today hit the Haryana Congress with state party president Ashok Tanwar “threatening” to quit the post protesting ticket distribution for the Assembly polls due next month.
Tanwar reportedly walked out of a crucial meeting called today by Haryana screening committee chairman PC Chacko to finalise candidates for some pending seats.
Sources said Tanwar “went underground” as senior party leaders were “unable” to reach him. Tanwar, Congress sources said, had yesterday refused to sign the election nomination forms of some senior state leaders, including Kiran Choudhry, who wanted to keep their documents ready to file nominations the moment the Congress list was to be announced. The last date for filing nominations is September 27.
To deal with the crisis, the Congress has decided to keep Haryana Education Minister Geeta Bhukkal on standby to replace Tanwar and facilitate the election nomination process in case Tanwar continued to remain defiant.
Any candidate filing an election nomination has to submit two forms with the papers – Form A, which the state general secretary concerned signs, and Form B, which the state party president signs.
The Tribune has learnt that while Shakeel Ahmed, AICC general secretary in charge of Haryana, has signed Forms A of potential candidates such as Kiran Choudhry and other sitting ministers whose names were cleared in the first Congress Election Committee meeting, Tanwar reportedly refused to sign some forms, including that of Kiran Choudhry, who today brought the matter to the notice of Congress leaders who kept Bhukkal ready as a replacement if need be.
“We can’t keep the nomination process hanging fire. We are ready with Plan B,” a party source said.
Ahmed told The Tribune that he had been trying to reach Tanwar to take
his concerns on board but in vain.
“I was in Bihar yesterday and returned today. I don’t have intimation of Tanwar having offered to quit but I have been trying to reach him to ask him what his concerns are. We will talk to him,” Ahmed said. Officially, the Congress denied Tanwar's resignation offer.
Tanwar personally wasn’t available for comment today with sources close to him admitting that he was upset with certain ticket allocations and had presented his point of view to the party. Tanwar is also reportedly unhappy over not being able to push some candidates even in Sirsa, the Lok Sabha constituency he represented in the past.
In Badshahpur, CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda is backing sitting MLA Rao Dharampal’s son, while Tanwar wants this seat and Adampur seat to go to Youth Congress candidates. Tanwar is also learnt to have conveyed his concerns to Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi.
Meanwhile, party leaders said aggressive stance on ticket allocations was uncalled for as the majority view tends to prevail. “Sometimes, even the candidates recommended by general secretaries are turned down. That does not mean you get upset,” said Congress general secretary in charge of CEC Madhusudan
Mistry.
