Fault lines in state Congress to the fore as Kumari Selja puts up show of strength

Deepender Deswal

Hisar, June 15

Days after the Haryana Lok Sabha results and in the run-up to the Assembly poll that are a mere four months away, the split in the Haryana Congress seems wide open with Sirsa MP Kumari Selja putting up a show of strength by organising a huge rally in the Narwana town in Jind district today.

At the rally to support Selja were former Hisar MP Birender Singh and his son Brijendra and Rajya Sabha MP Randeep Singh Surjewala.

Conspicuous by their absence were Bhupinder Singh Hooda and his son, Deepender Hooda, who won the parliamentary poll from Rohtak, besides the Haryana Congress president Udai Bhan. On the other hand, Hooda and Bhan today released a programme of state-wide workers’ meetings starting from Karnal on June 16.

Leaders of both factions didn’t share the stage even during the Lok Sabha poll campaign in the state.

In Narwana, which is part of the Jat heartland of Bangar region comprising Jind and Kaithal districts, Selja described herself as ‘Khap ki beti’, and thanked the Banain Khap Panchayat for supporting her in the Lok Sabha elections. Notably, she is a native of Parbhuwala village — part of the Sarv Jatiya Banain Khap panchayat which comprises 52 villages in Jind, Fatehabad and Hisar districts.

Impressed by the gathering, Selja urged supporters to keep up the momentum of the Lok Sabha poll as the Assembly elections are just four months away. “We have a brief interval of just 5-7 days. We should not let the momentum slow down in Haryana,” she said in the meeting.

The Sirsa MP, who has also served as Union Minister during the Manmohan Singh-led Congress government, emphasised the role of women electorate stating that they comprise half of the voters. “Women’s support is crucial in elections and should not be ignored,” she stated.

Selja said that Randeep Surjewala played a key role in ensuring lead to the Congress during the Lok Sabha poll. She said that former MP Brijendra Singh, who joined the Congress after leaving the BJP before the election, had a bright future.

Addressing the gathering, former Union Minister Birender, who rejoined the Congress after about 10 years in the BJP, claimed that it was a weak government at the Centre that would not complete its full term.

Surjewala, who had defeated the former Chief Minister and INLD supremo Om Prakash Chautala in the Narwana Assembly segment twice in the past, said that people of Jind, Kaithal, Hisar, Sirsa, Kurukshetra and Ambala could also shine in the state in the next Assembly election.

Indicating that this region should be the centre of power in Haryana, Surjewala said that these districts could chalk out a strategy to ensure victory of the Congress candidates so as to form the government in Haryana.

Though the Tosham MLA Kiran Choudhry was not present at the meeting, she is also part of the Selja bloc in Haryana Congress and had targeted the Bhiwani-Mahendragarh candidate Rao Dan Singh who lost the election. Dan Singh was reportedly given ticket at the recommendation of former CM Hooda. Though Dan Singh blamed Tosham (Kiran’s segment) for his loss, she had countered stating that Dan Singh had lost from his own segment Mahendragarh.

The other bloc

• Conspicuous by their absence were Bhupinder Singh Hooda and his son, Deepender Hooda, who won the parliamentary poll from Rohtak, besides the Haryana Congress president Udai Bhan.
• Hooda and Bhan on Saturday released a programme of state-wide workers’ meetings starting from Karnal on June 16.