Birender, son set to take field even as Congress revamp awaited

Former Union minister Birender Singh and his son, former Hisar MP Brijendra Singh, have geared up to take the political field in Hisar and Jind region ahead of the reorganisation of the state unit of the Congress.

Sources close to Birender Singh, who previously served as a Union minister in the Modi government before returning to the Congress ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, said party leaders and workers suffered a setback due to ‘unexpected’ defeat in the recent Assembly polls and need to be rejuvenated.

“There has been a lull among the Jat community, which rallied behind a former CM, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, after the Congress defeat during the recent Lok Sabha and Assembly polls. Thus, the party leaders need to re-connect with the electorate,” said a source.

The Chautala family members, including INLD leader Abhay Chautala and JJP leaders Dushyant and Digvijay, have been trying to gain ground in Jind and Rohtak regions, respectively. “There is a kind of churning among the Jats after the defeat of the Congress, and both the factions of Chautala family have realised it. They have their old network, which they are trying to oil now,” said a Congress leader.

Hence, Birender Singh and his son have decided to start the campaign to keep the flock intact. The Congress’ list of district units is expected to be released shortly. There have been murmurs of reshuffle of the state party leadership as the Congress has not yet nominated its Congress Legislative Party (CLP) leader in the state Assembly. It is expected that the party could also appoint new state party leader along with CLP leader. At present, Udai Bhan is the state president while the district units have no office-bearers for over a decade now.

Brijendra Singh stated in Hisar yesterday that he would be covering 15 Assembly segments in Hisar, Jind, Kaithal, Bhiwani and Fatehabad districts by holding workers' meetings over the next couple of months.

The aim was not to connect people with any particular leader but to connect people with the party. “In the last Assembly elections, it was seen that people were inclined towards the Congress but lack of organisation could not translate into the desired results,” he said, adding that the campaign would start with meetings of three Assemblies to be held from August 20.

Brijendra said they would raise issues such as agriculture, unemployment, and the Agnipath scheme.