New Haryana Congress president Kumari Shelja at her residence in new Delhi. (Express photo by Anil Sharma)Moving to end factional politics in its Haryana unit ahead of the assembly elections in the state, the Congress Wednesday went for a revamp, removing PCC chief Ashok Tanwar and naming Kumari Selja, another Dalit leader, in his place.
A sitting member of Rajya Sabha, Selja has in the past served three terms as a Lok Sabha member and been a Minister at the Centre.
Making the announcement in New Delhi, Haryana Congress in-charge Ghulam Nabi Azad also said that former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda will be the new leader of the Congress Legislature Party, replacing Kiran Choudhry, and, therefore, Leader of Opposition in the Vidhan Sabha.
“The Congress president has given him (Hooda) one more responsibility: he will be chairman of the election management committee… this is a very important position as Haryana elections may be announced within a week or 10 days,” Azad said.
Seeking Tanwar’s removal, Hooda’s supporters had been clamouring that their leader be given the party’s command in Haryana to energise workers across the state. But Hooda’s critics within the party had warned that any such move would lead to polarisation of Jat and non-Jat votes.
Bhupinder Singh Hooda after his appointment. (Express photo by Anil Sharma)By bringing in Selja as PCC chief and naming Hooda as CLP leader, the Congress has tried to strike a balance ahead of the poll announcement, hoping it placates rival camps.
Incidentally, during the Lok Sabha elections this year, Hooda and Selja had campaigned for each other, raising hopes in the Congress that they will be able to work together. Intense infighting in the Haryana unit had led to the defeat of the Congress in election after election.
Win-win for Hooda
The Congress’s decision is set to energise Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s supporters, who are likely to now go to the electorate and project him as the Haryana CM candidate in the forthcoming Assembly polls. Removal of Ashok Tanwar from the post of Haryana Congress president had become a prestige issue for Hooda and his supporters, who will now count this as their success. The Hooda camp is happy with Kumari Selja replacing Tanwar, as she is seen as having good political equations with the former CM. In his meeting with party president Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday, Hooda is learnt to have given his consent on Selja’s appointment. The Hooda camp also hopes to get the lion’s share in ticket allocation.
At a rally in his Rohtak stronghold last month, Hooda was projected as the chief ministerial candidate for the assembly polls with or without party support. He had also remarked that the party had “lost its way (bhatak gayee)”, and was no longer the Congress of the past. But the hints of rebellion dissipated with the Congress working out an arrangement.
In New Delhi, Azad reminded reporters how Hooda had defeated Chaudhary Devi Lal thrice in the Lok Sabha elections and remained Haryana Chief Minister for almost a decade. He also recalled the contribution of Hooda’s father and grandfather.
