Chandigarh: Even as the parliamentary and Haryana assembly polls are around the corner, the Congress’s state unit hasn’t been able to quell infighting.
Bickering among various groups within the party came to the fore when Deepak Babaria, the newly appointed in-charge for Haryana Congress, met leaders for the first time in Chandigarh Saturday.
The meeting was marred by frequent sloganeering and leaders cutting, sometimes correcting each other. Workers raised slogans in favour of Leader of Opposition (LoP) Bhupinder Singh Hooda when former state unit chief Kumari Selja was asked to speak. She told them to raise slogans in favour of Sonia Gandhi and Babaria instead.
Sources said to ThePrint that when Rajya Sabha MP Deepender Hooda presented a vision document of the Haryana Congress, Kumari Selja reacted that the party’s vision will be reflected in the election manifesto which will be released by the manifesto committee.
Kumari Selja also left the meeting midway, citing prior engagements.
All India Congress Committee general secretary Randeep Surjewala is said to have emphasised the need for an organisational setup in the state. Notably, for the past five years, the Congress has not been able to appoint office bearers at the state, district or block levels in Haryana.
On his part, Babaria also spoke about unity among party leaders and urged them not to run to the media over small issues. In a warning to all camps within the party, Babaria said action will be taken if leaders issued statements against each other, sources within the party said to ThePrint.
When ThePrint contacted Surjewala Sunday, he said he doesn’t speak to the media about internal meetings.
Kumari Selja told ThePrint Sunday that she left early as she had to catch a flight. “That’s why I spoke early,” she said.
She also sought to play down the sloganeering, claiming only a handful of workers did so.
Senior party leader and former minister Kiran Choudhry told ThePrint Sunday, “Babaria is a grounded leader, and he understands everything. He has said that all the leaders will have to work together.”
State Congress chief Udai Bhan said he was hopeful that the party’s organisational structure will be in place soon.
“The new state in-charge (Babaria) was appointed earlier this month only. An organisational set-up is on the top of his priority list. I hope the list will come soon,” said the MLA from Hondal who is known for his proximity to LoP Hooda.
He told ThePrint that lists of the proposed office bearers at various levels submitted by state leaders were with the party high command and functionaries at the state, district, and block levels were likely to be finalised soon.
Denying any bickering in the state unit, Bhan said, “Raising slogans is like clapping to cheer leaders during their speech. This is not an act of indiscipline. This shows our workers are in high spirits and are waiting eagerly for the elections.”
LoP Hooda also played down the incidents of sloganeering and said the party was united in Haryana.
“People of Haryana have made up their minds to dislodge the BJP in 2024. We will win all 10 parliamentary seats and form a government in the state as well,” he said to ThePrint on the phone.
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3 presidents since 2019
Due to infighting in the state Congress, the party has seen three presidents since it failed to win even one parliamentary seat in 2019.
Ashok Tanwar, who led the state unit of the party then, was replaced by Kumari Selja before the assembly polls in October 2019 after his long-drawn tug-of-war with Hooda.
Kumari Selja was replaced by Udai Bhan, a Hooda loyalist, in April 2022.
Similarly, Babaria is the fourth in-charge of the state Congress during this period. Ghulam Nabi Azad, Vivek Bansal and Shaktisinh Gohil have held this position before him.
(Edited by Smriti Sinha)