Ahead of the budget session of the state assembly, the Congress party in Haryana is expected to announce the Leader of Opposition (LoP) on Thursday.
Former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda is being considered as the frontrunner for the post.
Panchkula MLA Chandermohan, who is backed by senior leader Kumari Selja, is also in the race for the LoP position.
A meeting of the Haryana Congress Legislative Party has been scheduled for Thursday evening at the party office in Chandigarh. This comes just before the Haryana Assembly’s budget session begins. There are also reports that the party may announce a new party president in the state, replacing Hooda loyalist Udai Bhan.
Party leaders and MLAs had previously shared their views with party observers, but no consensus was reached. The final decision on the LoP will now be made by the party leadership.
Meanwhile, senior Congress leader Ajay Singh Yadav has raised concerns about the party’s leadership structure. He has urged the party to appoint a state president who is independent and follows the party’s ideology, rather than being loyal to a particular leader. Yadav has also demanded a strong organization structure, citing the BJP’s well-organized cadre system as an example.
The Haryana Congress Steering Committee met on Wednesday to discuss organizational matters. During the meeting, Yadav emphasised the need to form district, state, and block-level committees, noting that the BJP has already structured its organization down to grassroots level.
He also insisted that the LoP should be chosen with the consensus of all MLAs. He further added that representation should be given to backward classes, Scheduled Castes, and non-Jat leaders in the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC).
Bhan is the Haryana Congress President now. However, after last year’s Assembly elections, the party has not been able to appoint a Leader of Opposition in the Haryana Assembly. Amid increasing dissatisfaction among Haryana Congress leaders, the party’s high command has convened a crucial meeting in Delhi. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and senior leader Rahul Gandhi are participating in this meeting to discuss leadership changes in Haryana.
Haryana Congress leader Varun Mulana confirmed that today’s meeting primarily focused on strengthening the party organization rather than naming specific leaders. However, sources indicate that the party high command is considering a major reshuffle to ensure fair representation of different communities. Congress no longer wants to rely solely on the Hooda family and is looking for a leadership formula that balances caste equations to counter the BJP’s strategy of focusing on non-Jats and OBCs.
