Congress mulls bigger roles for Selja, Hooda for comeback

CHANDIGARH: In yet another attempt to broker peace among the warring Congress leaders and to salvage the situation emerging out of crushing defeat in the parliamentary elections, the Congress high command is expected to bring in former Union minister Kumari Selja and former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda on the forefront for the assembly polls.
Sources said the party is seriously considering the move despite the fact that both of Selja and Hooda lost the recent elections from Ambala and Sonipat, respectively.
Party sources said Selja could be a replacement for Ashok Tanwar, who also lost from Sirsa parliamentary seat. Hooda could be made CLP chief as well as the chairman of the coordination committee. Congress Haryana affairs in-charge Ghulam Nabi Azad has proposed this formula to the party high command, sources said.
The final nod has to come from AICC president Rahul Gandhi. Sources said the picture will be clear in Haryana once Rahul takes a final decision about his own resignation as party chief.
The Congress suffered a humiliating defeat as it lost all the 10 constituencies to the BJP, including Rohtak and Sonipat constituencies which were considered to be its safest bets in the state. Hooda's son Deepender failed to retain the family bastion of Rohtak.
Afterwards, the rift among the leaders intensified as was evident during the meeting of coordination committee wherein state Congress chief Tanwar was targeted. Hooda group had sought removal of Tanwar as the state president and Kiran Choudhary as CLP leader.
The entire episode had ended with an embarrassment when Tanwar allegedly abused Hooda aide and MLA Jai Tirath Dahiya, party insiders claimed.
Notably, assembly elections in Haryana are just three months away. Besides making a comeback on the lines of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, Hooda faces the challenge of increasing the seat count in the assembly.