Public display of rift will hit poll prospects in Haryana: Congress

Tribune News Service

Geetanjali Gayatri

Chandigarh, September 6

With protests marring the visit of party-appointed observers to seek feedback on “potential candidates” for its district units from supporters of rival factions across the state, the Haryana unit of the Congress seems to be finding it difficult to keep its house in order.

Divided between two camps — that of former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda and his son and Rajya Sabha MP, Deepender Hooda; and the trio of leaders Randeep Singh Surjewala, Kumari Selja and Kiran Choudhry — the party is finding it difficult to strike a balance as it prepares itself to face the elections next year.

Intolerance within party

Within the Congress, there is so much intolerance, just as there is growing intolerance in the country. It needs to be addressed. —Deepak Babaria, Party general secy in-charge

Deepak Babaria, party general secretary in-charge, chose to downplay the protests, saying that while everybody had the right to express a viewpoint, there should not be a public display of differences as it harms the party’s prospects. “Any leader who has a problem should approach the senior leadership of the party. Public display of rift is unfortunate. Selja, Surjewala and Choudhry are very senior and could have escalated the matter to the party high command for redress,” he stated.

Maintaining that the priority was to form the Congress government in Haryana, he said the effort was to put in place a strong organisational structure by appointing district Congress chiefs (DCCs) and other office-bearers at the earliest. Asked that questions were being raised over the observers appointed to gather feedback from the party workers regarding prospective candidates for the post of DCC, he said the committee comprised three members. “One of the names was taken from HPCC chief Uday Bhan and former CM Bhupinder Hooda, another was picked on the advice of Selja and Surjewala, while the third one was chosen from the AICC team to assist the two in getting genuine feedback during meetings with workers,” said Babaria.

Reacting to the statement of Deepak Pathak, AICC coordinator for Rohtak district, that he had come to form Hooda government in the state, the general secretary in-charge said it was only “a slip of tongue”. “It is the prerogative of the party to decide who the CM will be,” he added.

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