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Never-ending infighting may further dent the prospects of weakened Congress in Haryana
The never-ending infighting has already weakened the Congress that was in power in the state for 10 consecutive years from 2004 and could further dent its performance in the upcoming polls.
The Congress is struggling to deal with squabbling that escalated after former state unit chief Ashok Tanwar alleged “tickets were being sold” barely hours before the party announced its first list of 84 candidates for the October 21 assembly elections.
The never-ending infighting has already weakened the Congress that was in power in the state for 10 consecutive years from 2004 and could further dent its performance in the upcoming polls.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi had last month tried to quell the factionalism by replacing Tanwar, who was at the helm for six years, with senior leader Kumari Selja. The party also attempted to pacify former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda by appointing him as the legislature party leader and involving him in the ticket distribution process. Not surprisingly, it bears his clear imprint.
Hooda had repeatedly argued that the Haryana Congress under Tanwar had lost two Lok Sabha and one assembly elections besides many local body elections and failed to revive the party.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress failed to open its account in the state with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) winning all the ten seats.
On Wednesday, Tanwar along with his supporters protested outside the Congress president’s Delhi residence, alleging that corruption in candidate selection and claimed that the party ticket in Sohna assembly constituency had been sold for ₹5 crore.
Tanwar also claimed that the BJP had approached him six times to join the party but he rejected the offer since he said, he was “a loyal soldier” of the Congress.
But his protest did not force the Congress leadership to change the list as it announced candidates on 84 out of the total 90 seats in the midnight on Wednesday.
While two-term chief minister Hooda will contest from Garhi-Sampla Kiloi, an assembly constituency in Rohtak parliamentary seat, party chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala will seek re-nomination from Kaithal.
Similarly, Kiran Choudhary will contest from Tosham, Kuldeep Bishnoi from Adampur, his brother Chander Mohan from Panchkula, former Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) chief Ranbir Mahendra from Badhra, Anand Singh Dangi from Meham and former union minister Jai Prakash from Kalayat.
The party has also given tickets to eight women and six Muslims. It also sought to strike a fine balance by giving representation to all the castes of the state that has in the recent past a clear division between Jats and non-Jats.
The last date for filing nomination is October 4. The counting of votes is on October 24.
