Haryana Diary: Groupism in Congress

Faridabad: Political programmes organised by the state Congress party leaders here recently provided clear indications of factionalism and emergence of two major groups in the party. The Hooda group leaders were missing from the two public meetings helmed by AICC general secretary Kumari Selja. The leaders owing allegiance to the SRK (Selja Kumari-Randeep Surjewala-Kiran Chaudhary) group stayed away from the Jan Akrosh Rally organised by former Congress MLA Lalit Nagar, who is considered close to Hooda. Though the leaders of both factions are tightlipped over infighting in the party, political analysts say that apart from the race for chief ministership, it also indicated the aspirations of Congress leaders for party tickets in the upcoming elections.

Switchover speculation

Hisar: The BJP MP from Hisar, Brijendra Singh, son of former Union Minister Birender Singh, has expressed surprise over the speculation of his family switching over to the Congress. When asked about this, he said: “I am surprised that four persons have asked me the same question in the past two days. If a a Congress leader is saying so, it’s surprising that he knows more than I know about my decisions.”

Poll preparation in top gear

Karnal: The BJP has ramped up preparations for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. It has opened dedicated offices for the elections in all 10 constituencies to run an effective campaign at the grassroots level. It has also constituted various committees to ensure a well-coordinated and comprehensive electoral strategy. The party is leaving no stone unturned to win all 10 Lok Sabha seats in the state, for which it has planned meetings at booth, block, district and Lok Sabha levels to mobilise its cadre.

Engaging in war of words

Rewari: Local Congress MLA Chiranjeev Rao and MC Chairperson Poonam Yadav engaged in a war of words recently. Chiranjeev, along with sitting and former councillors, took out a protest march, alleging corruption in the council. Hitting back at him, Poonam Yadav said there was rampant corruption in the council during the Congress regime. Chiranjeev intends to gain political mileage ahead of the Lok Sabha elections by leveling false allegations, she added.

Contributed by: Bijendra Ahlawat, Deepender Deswal, Parveen Arora and Ravinder Saini