With the appointment of new Haryana Congress state president Udai Bhan, senior leader Bhupendra Singh Hooda is trying his best to unite his former loyalists who were denied tickets and had quit the party.
Hooda gets a shot in the arm as eight of the former MLAs – Sharda Rathore, Ramnivas Ghodela, Naresh Selwal, Parminder Singh Dhull, Jile Ram Sharma, Rakesh Kamboj, Rajkumar Valmiki and Subhash Chaudhari – joined the Congress at the party headquarter in Chandigarh on Monday.
This development clearly indicates that Hooda faction is getting strengthened after the appointment Udai Bhan, who is believed to be close to the former chief minister, as the new state party chief.
Most of the party legislators and senior leaders were present on the occasion and this made everyone speculate if these former legislators are promised assembly tickets in the upcoming elections or not.
Bhupendra Singh Hooda said: “No such promise has been made and all the former legislators have joined the party willingly irrespective of any selfishness and greed. East or West, Congress is the best.” Political experts are of the opinion that bringing former MLAs in the Congress will help the party to strengthen its position in the state ahead of assembly elections and parties’ hunt for suitable faces will come to an end to some extent.
At the same time, it may add to the woes of the party. The Congress continues to face a widened rift among the party stalwarts. Senior party leader Kuldeep Bishnoi is believed to be upset with the party high command and Hooda after the appointment of Udai Bhan. The recent political developments indicate that Bishnoi was lobbying for the post and being considered the strongest claimant for the same.
Three of the four newly-appointed working presidents remained absent from the programme as they are believed to belong from Hooda’s opposite fraction.