Hooda, Tanwar factions spar over voters’ list

Sushil Manav

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 22

Infighting in the state Congress came to the fore during a meeting of party MPs and MLAs called here today to discuss organisational elections. Legislators owing allegiance to former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda had heated exchange with state party president Ashok Tanwar over voters’ list.

Sources said when Pradeep Jain Aditya, a former Union minister and Pradesh Returning Officer (PRO) for the organisational poll in the state, was discussing election issues, MLAs Karan Singh Dalal, Gita Bhukkal and Kuldeep Sharma alleged that no draft voters’ list had been displayed by the party’s state unit and hence, they were not aware whether members made by them had been included in the list or not.

Sources said Tanwar got angry when Dalal and others alleged that the draft voters’ list prepared by the state unit was farce and he allegedly told the MLAs to stop talking “non-sense.”

This enraged the Congress legislators and Meham MLA Anand Singh Dangi demanded that the state Congress chief should take his words back.

A heated exchange of words ensued between the MLAs owing allegiance to Hooda on one side and Tanwar and his state unit team members on the other side and the commotion continued for some time till Jain and his Assistant Pradesh Returning Officers Jayendra Ramola from Uttarakhand and Harpal Thakur from Madhya Pradesh pacified the two warring groups.

Later, Hooda told The Tribune that the party MLAs only wanted that the names of genuine party workers must be included in the list.

Jain said he was going to make his permanent office in Chandigarh till the organisational elections were over and any party leader would be free to see the voters’ list in his office.

Tanwar said the state unit would extend complete cooperation to Jain and his team and the elections would be held peacefully.

Former Union minister Kumari Selja, party MPs Shadi Lal Batra and Deepender Singh Hooda and MLAs Shakuntala Khatak, Jaibir Balmiki, Jagbir Singh Malik, Shri Krishan Hooda, Jai Tirath Dahiya and Raghubir Singh Kadiyan also attended the meeting.

Congress Legislative Party (CLP) leader Kiran Choudhry and MLAs Randeep Singh Surjewala, Kuldeep Bishnoi and Renuka Bishnoi did not turn up, while two other MLAs, Udai Bhan and Lalit Nagar, are said to be on an official tour.