In an effort to end the brewing rebellion in Haryana Congress, the central party leadership on Wednesday designated Dalit leader and Rajya Sabha member Kumari Selja as the party president in place of Ashok Tanwar in the state.

The move apparently came at the behest of interim party president Sonia Gandhi. Kumari Selja, 56, is a member of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) - the party’s highest decision-making body - and is considered close to be Sonia. A two-time MP from Ambala, she is being seen by both, the central leadership and the Haryana Congress as an amiable leader who can bring stability to the state unit and unite all warring factions.

Recognising the status of former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who was on a warpath with the central leadership till Wednesday, the party also made him the chairman of the election management committee and leader of the Congress legislature party in Haryana, thus clearing the path for him to stake claim to the chief ministership in case the party manages to win the upcoming assembly polls. Tanwar, who was appointed as Haryana Congress chief in 2014 by Rahul Gandhi, was locked in a feud with Hooda.