Hooda loyalist Udai Bhan is Haryana Congress chief
CHANDIGARH : The Congress on Wednesday appointed former legislator Udai Bhan as president of the Haryana Congress. A loyalist of former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Bhan replaces Kumari Selja, a former Union minister and a Dalit leader. The announcement came after the AICC issued a press release, stating that Congress president Sonia Gandhi has accepted the resignation of Selja from the post of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee president with immediate effect.
Bhan, who is a three-time MLA from the now abolished Hassanpur constituency and was later elected from Hodal, is also a Dalit leader.
Win-win for Hooda
In fact, Hooda, who is the Congress legislature party (CLP) leader in Haryana assembly, has been trying to get control of the state Congress unit for more than a year. Besides himself, his son and Rajya Sabha MP Deepender Singh Hooda was one of the projected options before the Congress high command for the post. However, the two-time chief minister seems to have worked out a game plan to have control over both the legislature party in the assembly and the state unit. “Udai Bhan will be a dummy party chief. Being a Hooda loyalist, he will be guided by the former chief minister and his group of confidantes. Since Bhan is a Dalit face, it is appropriate that he replaced Selja,’’ said a party leader.
Four working presidents appointed
The party high command also appointed four working presidents to strike a power balance in the state unit and also give it a democratic representation in terms of party camps, caste and region. Daughter of Tosham MLA Kiran Choudhry and former MP Shruti Choudhry (a Jat leader from Bhiwani area),
Selja loyalist Ram Kishan Gujjar (a Gujjar leader from Ambala), Hooda loyalist Jitender Bhardwaj (a Brahmin from Gurgaon region) and Suresh Gupta (a Vaish leader from Panipat-karnal) owing allegiance to Congress general secretary Randeep Surjewala were appointed as working presidents. Party insiders say the new party set-up has been devised to placate the warring factions in the state unit. Party sources said Selja’s exit as the state president leaves her nowhere unless the party high command accommodates her in the central leadership.
Bhan’s appointment as the state Congress president on the other hand has reinforced Hooda’s standing and his ability to swing the central leadership his way. His loyalists say that message from the high command is that the party does not want to experiment anymore and take the established old guard for granted after the Punjab debacle. Adampur MLA Kuldeep Bishnoi who was a contender for the state unit chief’s post in a late evening tweet expressed his annoyance over being ignored. Bishnoi in a tweet said that he will seek an answer from Rahul Gandhi.
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