Congress leaders in Haryana will now have to “prove” their loyalty to the party. Leader of the Opposition (LoP) and former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has organised several outreach programmes in eight constituencies, it would seem that Hooda and party high command seem unhappy with Congress leaders’ performance in these areas. The party has now issued orders—and a WhatsApp number for the upcoming program that will be held on 20 August in Hisar. Party leaders attending the program have been directed to send selfies of their convoys and teams while in Hisar.
This is reportedly being done to reveal the number of leaders who make it a point to show up during these programs and mobilise the crowd—as well as those who claim to do so but do not. The party is It is important to note that Haryana goes to polls for the state Assembly in a year. After the victory of the Congress in the Karnataka assembly elections, the trio of Selja Kumari, Randeep Surjewala and Kiran Chowdhary has become aggressive in Haryana, posing a challenge for former CM Hooda. The Congress is divided into factions in Haryana. Sailja, Surjewala and Chowdhary’s faction is at odds with the Hooda camp and the MLAs are also divided in this factionalism. The Hooda camp is trying to identify its loyalists so that the opponents do not get a chance.
Hisar is the home constituency of Selja Kumari and BJP leader Kuldeep Bishnoi, both of whom are posing challenges to Hooda; as a result, the former CM is now trying to make inroads here. Deependra Hooda, therefore, held meetings in seven Assemblies in Hisar across 3 days. Hooda, state president Udaybhan and Deepender were responsible for campaigning in Hisar’s Adampur by-election as well, in an attempt to defeat the BJP’s Bhavya Bishnoi. This is the first time since October 2022 that Hooda will hold a public meeting in Hisar.
In the meantime, factionalism in the party has made it difficult for the party to function. The state party president has changed twice since the Assembly elections in 2019. After the removal of Ashok Tanwar, Selja was made the state president, but she resigned in April 2022 due to Hooda’s “dominance”. Then Hooda supporter Udaybhan was made the president. Angered by this, Kuldeep Bishnoi left the party and joined the BJP. Similarly, during the 2019 elections 2019, senior leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, a confidante of Hooda, was in-charge of the state. After his removal, UP leader Vivek Bansal was given the responsibility, but after cross-voting in the Rajya Sabha elections, he was removed and Shakti Singh Gohil of Gujarat was given the command. In yet another shuffle, Deepak Babaria was made in-charge a few months ago.
