After factionalism in Punjab Congress during the assembly elections, there is a tussle between two top leaders in Haryana Congress, after which factionalism has started in the party. Internal squabbles in the Haryana Congress are coming to the fore at a time when the Aam Aadmi Party is eyeing a repeat of Punjab’s success and expansion in the state ahead of the 2024 assembly elections.
Party insiders say that the state unit is divided into two camps. One camp is of Pradesh Congress Committee chief Kumari Selja, while the other is of former Chief Minister and current Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda. Though the two leaders have not openly spoken against each other, the tension is evident as they have not shared the stage at party events in recent months.
Hooda is visiting the districts as part of the ‘Opposition Aapke Saamne’ campaign. While Kumari Selja has stayed away from this campaign and is looking after other organization level issues of the party. Hooda is believed to have the support of more than two dozen of the party’s 31 MLAs. Many former MPs and ministers are also considered loyal to Hooda. While Kumari Selja is considered close to Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi.
The report quoted party functionaries as saying that Hooda is trying to oust Selja and make his son Deepender the state unit chief. However, many leaders like Randeep Surjewala, Kiran Choudhary and Kuldeep Bishnoi are against the decision. Ahead of the 2019 elections, the Hooda camp was successful in ousting former Congress state chief Ashok Tanwar, who later quit the party.
On March 25, former Congress President Rahul Gandhi held a meeting with the leaders of Haryana in Delhi to seek reconciliation. Senior leaders like Hooda, Selja, Surjewala, Chaudhary and Bishnoi were present in this meeting. Sources said that during the meeting there was a fierce debate, with Hooda supporters insisting on change of leadership in the state. Dipendra had reportedly appealed to Rahul to conduct a survey to find out who is more popular and has more support between his father or Shailja.
According to party insiders, Rahul Gandhi told the Haryana leaders that they will have to accept the matter of collective responsibility and fight the elections as a collective leadership. Haryana in-charge Vivek Bansal accepted that factionalism is a big challenge before the party leadership. Here, Kumari Selja has denied any controversy in the party. At the same time, Hooda said that there may be differences of opinion among the party leaders, but there is no difference of opinion.