After three days of intense deliberations, the Congress Screening Committee has reportedly finalised discussions on potential candidates for all 90 assembly constituencies in Haryana for the upcoming October 1 elections.
The committee, however, will not immediately announce the candidates. Instead, it will send the list to the party’s Central Election Committee (CEC), headed by party president Mallikarjun Kharge and the CEC is scheduled to meet on September 2 to make the final selections. The official list of candidates will be released after this crucial meeting.
“Today’s discussions centered around the remaining 40 seats, completing the review for all 90 constituencies. We will reconvene tomorrow (Saturday) to reassess these names before forwarding them to the CEC,” said Deepak Babaria, the All India Congress Committee (AICC) in-charge for Haryana.
Party insiders have revealed that former minister and JJP’s Tohana MLA Devender Babli has not been granted a Congress ticket as his candidacy cannot be considered until he formally joins the party. Babli, who has been lobbying for a Congress ticket from the Tohana constituency met with Deepak Babaria and Kumari Selja in Delhi.
Despite his efforts, Babaria conveyed that without formal party membership, Babli’s chances remain slim. “I told him I cannot assist at this moment, but he can still try, as he is not yet a Congress member,” Babaria stated.
Babli faced backlash from Haryana’s Sarpanch Association during his tenure as Panchayati Raj Minister. The discontent arose when the Haryana government, led by Chief Minister Manohar Lal introduced an e-tendering law for all Panchayati Raj Institution (PRI) projects exceeding Rs 5 lakh. This move, aimed at enhancing transparency, significantly curtailed the financial authority of the Sarpanches, leading to widespread anger and opposition from the association.
Meanwhile, the Congress leadership has sharply criticized recent Enforcement Directorate (ED) actions against former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. The ED has seized assets worth Rs. 834 crore in a case involving Hooda, which Congress leaders have dismissed as an attempt by the BJP to influence the upcoming elections.
“Sending ED and CBI is BJP’s way of intimidating opponents. These actions are election tactics, and I don’t believe there’s any truth to them,” Deepak Babaria commented. When questioned, Hooda downplayed the allegations, stating that it was an old case, and he had no further comments as it pertained to an “old FIR.” Echoing similar sentiments, senior Congress leader Randeep Surjewala accused the investigative agencies of functioning as tools for the ruling party. “ED stands for the Election Department of BJP, and CBI stands for the Captive Bureau of BJP. These actions are timed with elections to create a media spectacle. If the BJP was serious, they would have acted earlier in their ten-year tenure. Why now, during elections? Similar actions are being seen in Rajasthan, Telangana, Himachal, and Maharashtra, but no one is going to be intimidated by these hollow threats,” Surjewala asserted.
