Congress a divided house

Nothing unites Congressmen more than the sight of electoral victory while political wilderness brings to the fore bickering in the rank and file. The five years in opposition in Haryana seem to have done the party little good with factionalism out in the open. Earlier, it was state unit chief Ashok Tanwar who was in the firing line after the party lost all 10 seats in the Lok Sabha elections. The roles have now been reversed with Tanwar training guns at former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda and state unit president Kumari Selja, accusing them of selling the party ticket. Tanwar took his fight to Delhi protesting outside Sonia Gandhi’s residence and asking to be relieved of all poll panels. The rivalry spilled over after Selja was made the state president and Hooda the chief of the election management committee. A video went viral, allegedly to embarrass the party, a day before Hooda is slated to file his nomination.  

Tanwar is known to be close to Rahul Gandhi and with the latter stepping aside after the loss in the Lok Sabha elections, his replacement was only a matter of time. His fight for tickets for his loyalists is natural. But the party apparently wishes to throw its weight behind the old guard to have a go at the BJP in the Assembly elections. 

The Congress was known for strong regional satraps. Like Virbhadra Singh in HP and Capt Amarinder Singh in Punjab, the party’s decision probably is dictated by the prospect of facing a resurgent BJP. With Selja in the saddle, the Congress has tried to offset the possible loss of Dalit votes by Tanwar’s replacement. A ‘human bomb’ cost Rajiv Gandhi his life and Tanwar should be circumspect in using the term, however innocuous the context might be even as his grievance should be looked into. His next course of action is awaited but the party itself should be seen as fighting the BJP and not amongst itself.