New Delhi: The Congress today announced its decision to make former Union Minister Kumari Selja as the state party president to prevent rebellion and unrest within its Haryana unit ahead of the state assembly elections. Former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who played the rebellion, has been made the leader of the Congress Legislature Party.
The party had been witnessing a grave internal battle between Hooda and Pradesh Congress president Ashok Tanwar for over five years. Matters had reached an impasse with Hooda threatening to leave the party and float a new front if Tanwar, who belongs to the Scheduled Caste category, was not replaced. He even convened a meeting of his supporters at his residence in Delhi on Tuesday.
The Congress, had however, made it known to Hooda that even if Tanwar were to go, he would only be replaced by a non-Jat. And in keeping with that, the party decided to replace him with another Scheduled Caste leader, Kumari Selja. Incidentally, in Haryana, Jats constitute the largest segment of the population followed by SCs.
Kumari Selja on being appointed Haryana Congress President: It is a huge responsibility on my shoulders, all of us will have to work together. We are committed to the party’s ideology.
The decision to appoint Selja to the post was announced by senior party leader and Haryana in-charge Ghulam Nabi Azad. He recalled how she was a former Union minister whose father, Chaudhary Dalbir Singh, was also a senior Congress leader and former Union cabinet minister.
While Tanwar has been replaced by Selja, Hooda would take the post of CLP leader in place of former Haryana minister and daughter-in-law of former CM Bansi Lal, Kiran Chaudhary.
Azad did not spell out what positions or responsibilities the Congress now intends to give Tanwar or Chaudhary. All, that he had to offer regarding Tanwar was that “Ashok Tanwar has been state chief for about six years now.”
As for how, the party would prepare for the upcoming assembly elections, Azad said:“Congress president Sonia Gandhi has given two responsibilities to Bhupinder Singh Hooda. He will be CLP chief and will also be the chairman of the Haryana election management committee.”
He said both Selja and Hooda would have to work together and strengthen the Congress in the state.
Azad also conveyed a sense of optimism that with these decisions the prospects of Hooda and his supporters, who comprise 13 sitting MLAs and a number of former legislators and ministers, moving away would come to an end.
Asked about Hooda, he had recently criticized the Congress stance on Section 370, declaring himself as the Chief Ministerial candidate and lost the party “his way”, Azad said that “he was in the past.” I was “and urge everyone” “Now look forward”.
