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Ahead of assembly polls, Selja to begin padyatra from Ambala
The campaign dubbed as “Congress Sandesh Yatra” will begin from Ambala City, part of the Ambala parliamentary constituency she represented twice in the Lok Sabha. Two-time MLA and minister of state for transport in the Nayab Saini government, Aseem Goel currently represents Ambala City in the state assembly.
Former Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) president and Sirsa Lok Sabha MP Kumari Selja is all set to kick-off her padyatra from Ambala on Saturday, with an aim to connect with urban voters ahead of the assembly elections slated for October this year.
The party’s Rajya Sabha MP, Randeep Surjewala, and former Union minister Chaudhary Birender Singh are also likely to join her.
The campaign dubbed as “Congress Sandesh Yatra” will begin from Ambala City, part of the Ambala parliamentary constituency she represented twice in the Lok Sabha.
Two-time MLA and minister of state for transport in the Nayab Saini government, Aseem Goel currently represents Ambala City in the state assembly.
Former state treasurer and Congress leader in Ambala Rohit Jain said that the yatra will start from Maharaja Agrasen Chowk to travel via bus stand, Shukulkund Road, Cloth Market and end at Jagadhari Gate, where the Sirsa MP will address a gathering.
After Ambala, the yatra will reach Barwala on July 28 July, he said.
The yatra will run parallel to former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s son and Rohtak MP Deepender Hooda’s “Haryana Maange Hisaab” campaign, where the latter is being projected as a CM face of the party.
On the other hand, political experts believe that the yatra is being undertaken to project Selja as a mass state leader after her resounding victory in the general elections, as she is also the biggest Dalit face of the party in Haryana.
“Having been general secretary of the AICC and in-charge for several states, there is no doubt that she is a close confidant of high command, particularly Sonia Gandhi. Her daughter Priyanka Gandhi led only one roadshow in the state during the parliamentary election campaign and that too in Sirsa. Her elevation and power were evidently seen during a meeting of the high command with state leaders at AICC headquarters, where she led the anti-Hooda camp and accused them of not distributing the tickets properly,” an expert said.
In a statement Selja said, “The padyatra will reach almost all urban areas of the state, where we will convey the message of the national president of the Congress party, Mallikarjun Kharge, and the leader of the Opposition, Rahul Gandhi.”
