Congress may not name CM face for Haryana: Party in-charge

Chandigarh, June 30

Congress general secretary in-charge of Haryana, Deepak Babaria, today hinted that the Congress might not project a chief ministerial face in the run-up to the state Assembly elections in October.

Reacting to the statement of Union Home Minister Amit Shah yesterday that the saffron party would fight the elections under the leadership of Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, Babaria pointed out that it was the Congress tradition of not naming any chief ministerial candidate before the poll.

Selja can raise issues before high command

Whatever decision I make, everyone can do its assessment and give their opinion. Selja is a senior party leader. She has all the right to express herself and if she has found any shortcomings in me, she can raise it before the high command. —Deepak Babaria, Haryana Congress incharge

“The Congress’ 70-year-old tradition is that whoever is elected by the legislature party and 99.99 per cent precedence is that it authorises the Congress president (to name the legislature party leader)…” he told a press conference here.

The Congress leader opined that the naming of the chief ministerial face was a major political decision.

On the issue of the BJP and other parties targeting the Haryana Congress over infighting, Babaria said the BJP wanted to overplay it through the media. He asked whether BJP leader Anil Vij’s outbursts in the past did not reflect infighting in the ruling party.

Answering a question on senior Congress leader Kumari Selja pointing fingers at him for not giving proper feedback to the party high command on most of the tickets allotted to candidates in the recently-concluded parliamentary poll, Babaria said in a democracy, everybody was subject to questioning.

“Whatever decision I make, everyone can do its assessment and give their opinion. Selja is a senior leader of our party. She has all the right to express herself and if she has found any shortcomings in me, she can raise it before the high command,” he said.

Babaria said the Congress manifesto for the Haryana poll would be common man-centric and the party has undertaken an exercise to collect feedback and suggestions from a cross-section of society to prepare the document.

Hitting out at the BJP, he said, “The award for the most-failed government in the country will go to the BJP government in Haryana.”

Geeta Bhukkal, who is the chairperson of the Haryana Congress’ manifesto committee, said the party has formed 17-18 sub-committees under the main manifesto committee to finalise the manifesto.