Factionalism in Haryana Congress out in the open over choice of candidates

For Lok Sabha seats including Bhiwani and Gurugram, impasse continues following di•erences among di•erent camps in the State unit; no solution that is to the satisfaction of all camps yet

he bitter factionalism within Haryana Congress over ticket distribution has come into sharp focus as a threemember committee of the party has failed to resolve the di™erences that have emerged over the choice of Lok Sabha candidates in some seats.

Senior party functionaries told The Hindu that the faction, led by former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, has sought to dominate the party’s choice of candidates and marginalise other powerful leaders like Kiran Choudhry and Randeep Surjewala.

In Bhiwani, for example, the State unit wants to ›eld Rao Dhan Singh, a Yadav leader, in place of former Lok Sabha member Shruti Choudhry, who is the daughter of former Haryana minister and ›veterm MLA Kiran Choudhry.

TMs. Kiran, who has been a Cabinet Minister in Haryana twice, is known to be an open critic and rival of Mr. Hooda. Some people have alleged that the Hooda camp wants to ›eld Mr. Singh even though seven out of nine Assembly segments under Bhiwani Lok Sabha seats are dominated by Jats, the community Ms. Choudhry belongs to.

There is a tussle over the Gurugram and Faridabad seats too. In Gurugram, Captain Ajay Yadav is being backed by several senior leaders of the non-Hooda camp but Mr. Hooda wants to ›eld ›lm actor-turnedpolitician Raj Babbar from the seat. Mr. Babbar is said to have been accommodated after he failed to get a seat from Chandigarh.

Kumari Selja is the only non-Hooda faction leader who has been allotted the Sirsa Lok Sabha seat.

Last Saturday, at the meeting of the Central Election Committee (CEC), former Congress president Sonia Gandhi suggested the setting up of a committee to sort out the di™erences. Sources said the three-member panel of K.C. Venugopal, Madhusudan Mistry and Salman Khurshid has not been able to come up with a solution that is to the satisfaction of all the camps.

ANI Peaceful resolution: Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi in conversation with party leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda in New Delhi on Sunday.