Former state President of Haryana Congress and in-charge of Chhattisgarh Selja Kumari is going to rally in Sirsa on 30 July. Selja has a show of strength in her old bastion after newly-appointed Haryana Congress in-charge Deepak Babaria took charge. After 25 years, Kumari Selja once again wants to make the rival Hooda camp feel her strength with her show of strength in Sirsa.
In the past, when Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s supporters raised slogans of his future CM in front of the Haryana in-charge, Selja supporters also raised slogans positioning her as the future CM in response. Deepender Hooda, son of former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda, held several public meetings in Hisar, Fatehabad and Sirsa in May and June. There are discussions that Selja Kumari wants to make Sirsa her stronghold again.
On the other hand, Kumari Selja gave indications of contesting the by-elections after holding an internal meeting of her party workers in Ambala. For this, party leaders are also engaged in preparing lists of booth-level workers. Selja’s clear message is that it is necessary to win this by-election to move forward.
In Haryana, the BJP won the Lok Sabha seats from Shri Ganesh Sirsa at Shah’s rally on 18 June. After this, this second big rally of Congress is going to be held in Sirsa. Selja Kumari is also going to visit Sirsa on 5 July.
National General Secretary of Indian Youth Congress and All India Congress Committee member Vineet Kamboj says that Kumari Selja is a national leader. A rally is being organized on 30 July. This rally is expected to be “record-breaking”.
Ambala and Sirsa are the only two reserved parliamentary seats out of 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana. After the death of MP Ratan Lal Kataria in Ambala, the party may field his wife Banto Kataria in the by-elections or the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in 2024. So that BJP can win that seat with a sympathy vote. That is why interest in Selja Kumari’s Sirsa parliamentary seat is set to increase.
In the last Assembly elections, there was a lot of rebellion in the Ambala Congress over ticket distribution. Ambala’s Congress leaders Nirmal Singh, Chitra Sarwara and Himmat Singh rebelled over ticket distribution. Both Nirmal Singh and Chitra Sarwara contested as independents. While Himmat Singh was part of Selja’s inner circle, he also rebelled against Kumari after not getting the ticket.
These people were shown the way out of the party when Selja was the state president, but as soon as she left the post of state president, the Hooda faction strengthened its faction in Ambala by including all anti-Selja leaders in the party.
There is no state-level Congress leader in the Sirsa district. The Congress has two MLAs from the district, but they are confined to their assembly constituencies. No major Congress leader emerged in Sirsa after Ashok Tanwar and Chaudhary Ranjit Singh left the Congress. In such a situation, there is no big obstacle in the way of Kumari Selja’s election. Selja would like to get a maximum number of tickets for her supporters in the assembly elections. Sirsa is a politically important district. This is the home district of former CM OP Chautala and Deputy CM Dushyant Chautala.
Hisar is the home district of Kumari Selja. There is no leader equal to the stature of Kumari Selja in Hisar after Kuldeep Bishnoi left the party. Kumari Selja has already made inroads in 9 assembly constituencies in the three districts of Ambala, Panchkula, Yamunanagar falling in the Ambala Lok Sabha.
Now Selja wants to increase its penetration in nine seats of the Sirsa Lok Sabha constituency. So that in the coming assembly elections, he can get tickets for a maximum number of his supporters. These three Lok Sabha constituencies cover 27 assembly seats. Kumari Selja’s father Chaudhary Dalbir Singh has been a four-time MP from Sirsa parliamentary seat. Kumari Selja started her political innings by winning the 1991 Lok Sabha elections from Sirsa. After this won the 1996 Lok Sabha elections. The 1998 Lok Sabha election was lost to former INLD MP Dr Sushil Indora. After this, contested and won the 2004 and 2009 elections from Ambala Lok Sabha.