Congress, the main opposition party in Haryana and a divided house, has received the applications of 314 candidates from several factions in the party seeking tickets for forthcoming parliamentary elections. Surprising everyone, two of the sitting MLAs Aftab Ahmad and Rao Dan Singh belonging to Bhupinder Singh Hooda team has staked their claim on Gururam and Bhiwani-Mahendergarh seats adding to the woes of the claimants of the opposite factions in the party. However, several party heavyweights who have refrained from staking claims so far are believed to meet the state Congress incharge regarding the same. Since the last date i.e. 7 February for application has passed, only the high command is the final and sole authority to take final call pertaining to whether applications will be taken into consideration or not. The list of the party leaders who have shown no interest in contesting Lok Sabha elections includes big shots namely, Bhupender Singh Hooda and his arch rivals from SRK faction including Kumari Selja, Randeep Surjewala, and Kiran Chaudhary. Besides, Captain Ajay Yadav, another party stalwart and father of Congress MLA Rao Chiranjivi also has not applied for the ticket.
It is pertinent to mention Sonipat and Rohtak, known as bastion of Hooda, emerge on top in terms of maximum and minimum applicants seeking tickets respectively. As many as 79 and 3 candidates have expressed desire to contest the elections from Jat dominated Sonipat and Rohtak seats. Likewise, as many as 45 applications have received from Kurukshetra Lok Sabha seat followed by 80 claimants of the ticket from reserved seats Ambala and Sirsa, 40 each. Further. The list includes 10 claimants for ticket from Gurugram, 9 from Faridabad and 6 from Bhiwani-Mahendragarh seat. One of the senior party leaders said on anonymity that following the long list of applicants seeking tickets, the high command is now most likely to initiate a survey process to finalise the candidates ahead of polls. However, the party’s survey work is still going on in all the Lok Sabha seats. Former Chief Minister Bhupendra Singh Hooda has already said that Congress is conducting its internal survey and bets will be placed only on the faces who will win the elections. It is a noticeable fact that Congress has been witnessing widened rift among the party stalwarts-Hooda faction and SRK team over the battle of dominance and political survival.
Prolonged battle for the CM face in Haryana Congress continuously led to ruckus in the party causing huge damage to it in assembly and parliamentary polls as well as adding to the woes of the party high command. Having unilateral hold in the state Congress Bhupender Singh Hooda has already clearly indicated not to contest the forthcoming parliamentary polls stating that since it is his last election and in view of this, he opted out to contest assembly polls. Likewise, Kumari Selja, an anti-Hooda party leader who has been at loggerheads with him over battle of political mileage and was believed to contest the forthcoming polls from reserved seats either from Sirsa or Ambala also has not expressed desire to contest the parliamentary polls to remain in the state politics. Similarly, Randeep Surjewala, a Rajya Sabha MP from Rajasthan and in charge of Karnataka along with Madhya Pradesh has refused to contest the forthcoming parliamentary polls. In this series, Kiran Chaudhary who carries the political legacy of former Chief Minister late Bansi Lal also showcased no desire to contest Lok Sabha polls as he daughter and former MP from Bhiwani-Mahendergarh seat is in fray for the ticket applying for the same.
Deepender Singh Hooda, a Rajya Sabha MP and son of Bhupinder Singh Hooda who is believed to be a strong contender for the ticket from the Rohtak seat has not surprisingly applied for the ticket. However, it is learnt that despite not applying for the ticket, the party is most likely to field him from the Rohtak seat. In this row, Chankaya Pandit, son of former assembly speaker Kuldeep Sharma has staked his claim on Karnal Lok Sabha seat. Former MPs Sushil Indora and Charanjit Singh Roddy are in fray for tickets from Sirsa Lok Sabha seats. Former Union Minister Jayprakash, who is in good books of Hooda, has expressed his desire to contest elections from Hisar Former Congress Committee President and former MP Dharampal Malik has expressed his desire to contest elections from Sonipat Lok Sabha seat, while former minister Karan Singh Dalal who is believed to close and loyalist to Hooda, has staked claim for the ticket from Faridabad Lok Sabha seat. Similarly, retired IPS Subhash Yadav who is a close one to SRK faction is keen to contest parliamentary polls from Gurugram seat.
Vijay Pratap Singh, son of former minister Chaudhary Mahendra Pratap Singh, showcased desire to contest elections from Faridabad Lok Sabha seat on Congress ticket. Retired IPS officer Subhash Yadav is keen to contest elections from Gurugram.
