‘Cracks’ in Congress: Haryana leaders shift base to canvass for preferred nominees

Deepender Deswal

Hisar, May 12

Amidst the hectic electioneering, fault lines seem visible in the two factions of the Congress in the state for the Hisar, Sirsa and Bhiwani Mahendragarh seats where the Congress leaders and workers have left their own segments and shifted their base to the constituencies of their preferred candidates for campaigning.

The campaigning in the Hisar, Sirsa and Bhiwani-Mahendragarh Lok Sabha constituencies indicated that the leaders had confined themselves to their respective political camps. Some leaders and workers have even left their home segments to campaign for their ‘own’ leader instead of campaigning for the Congress candidate in their respective areas.

Former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda and state Congress president Udai Bhan are scheduled to visit nine Lok Sabha segments (including Kurukshetra where AAP’s Sushil Gupta is the candidate of the INDIA bloc) except the Sirsa constituency. Whereas former Union Minister Selja, who is a candidate from the Sirsa Assembly segment, has been joined by the leaders, including Randeep Singh Surjewala, Kiran Choudhry and Birender Singh.

Former CM Hooda and Bhan will visit Sirsa on the invitation of the party and when asked whether he would campaign in Sirsa, Hooda said he would go if invited by the candidates.

Randeep, Kiran and Birender who are campaigning for Selja, too, are unlikely to visit other segments unless there is an invitation by the candidate.

Congress’s Hisar candidate Jai Prakash (JP) has been toiling hard in Hisar, Jind and Bhiwani districts. He is banking on the popularity of the former CM Hooda, besides his own network. JP had contested seven Lok Sabha elections, besides the Assembly polls in Barwala and Adampur of Hisar district.

JP’s alignment with Congress leader Birender Singh in the Uchana Kalan Assembly segment in Jind district and Kiran Choudhry in the Bawani Khera Assembly segment in Bhiwani district could give impetus to his poll campaign. But it’s still to get going.

Birender had made it clear that he would start campaigning for JP after he approaches him in person, which is yet to materialise. Thus, Birender is staying away from canvassing for him. Birender even skipped the event of filing the nomination paper by Prakash when Bhupinder Hooda and Haryana Congress chief Udai Bhan arrived in Hisar on May 6.

Former state minister Kiran Choudhry, who is the MLA from Tosham in Bhiwani district is also campaigning for Selja in Sirsa leaving her own segment, which is part of the Bhiwani Mahendragarh segment, where the Congress has fielded Rao Dan Singh.

Both Kiran and Birender have expressed their displeasure, after their respective daughter and son, were denied ticket by the Congress. They too have camped themselves with Selja and Randeep.

Selja, who is a native of Hisar district, is also unlikely to campaign for the Hisar candidate unless there is an invitation by Jai Prakash who is a confidant of former CM Hooda.

Prof ML Goyal, a political expert, said the Congress Haryana leader s would share stage on the platform with the Central leadership. “Though groupism is visible, none of them are working to harm the prospects of one another in this election. It’s good that workers and leaders having affiliations have joined their camps in campaigning even if they have to move out of their home segments,” he said.