‘Miffed’ Selja to campaign in Haryana from Sept 26

Sirsa MP and former Union Minister Kumari Selja, who was missing from campaigning so far, will participate in four public meetings on September 26.

Selja would be present during Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi’s rally in Assandh, Karnal. Sitting Congress MLA Shamsher Singh Gogi, who is a Selja loyalist, has been fielded again from the Assandh Assembly segment.

Selja would also hold a public meeting for Tohana candidate Paramveer Singh and two meetings for Ram Niwas Rara in Hisar.

One of the tallest Dalit leaders of the state, Selja has declared herself as a contender for the CM’s post but maintained that high command would take a final call.

She was running upset as the majority of Congress tickets had gone to former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s camp. She wanted to contest from Uklana to strengthen her case for the CM’s post but was not given a green signal from high command. The seat went to Hooda’s loyalist Naresh Selval. She couldn’t secure Narnaund’s ticket for Dr Ajay Chaudhary, it went to Jasbir Singh.

BJP leaders and BSP supremo Mayawati had made an issue about Hoodas mistreating and insulting Selja in the past few days. They claimed that the Congress had sidelined her.

After a worker passed a casteist remark against her in Narnaund, Hooda had to state that Selja was a respected leader of the party and that no one in the party could use such language.

In an interview on September 23, Selja said, “You have specifically questioned about Uklana and Narnaund. Whoever has got the tickets, you have seen their reactions. You have seen the comment passed in Narnaund. It shows what kind of candidates they were.”

She added, “I might have suffered because I had declared my candidacy for the CM’s post. Probably, some people might have felt afraid.”

She underlined that her struggle was not for herself, but for all communities “Chattis Biradari”, weaker sections, including the Dalits and women.