Factional faultlines emerge in Haryana Congress ahead of Assembly polls (2024)

The political parties in Haryana are gearing up for the Assembly election slated to be held by the year-end. The state is already witnessing political rallies and yatras. The two parallel yatras, led by former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Congress General Secretary Kumari Selja, have once again sharpened the factional fault lines in the grand old party.

Kumari Selja and Bhupinder Singh Hooda announced their padyatras (foot marches) on July 7 and July 11, respectively. While announcing the padyatra, Selja said she would focus on the state's urban areas.

"The ruling BJP gained an edge over the Congress in 44 urban assembly constituencies. There is a need to strengthen the party in urban Haryana. The planning of this yatra is underway. The motive of the padyatra is to expose the BJP's anti-people decisions. The yatra route and the date will be announced soon," Kumari Selja said.

Four days after Selja's announcement, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Haryana Congress chief Uday Bhan, and state in-charge Deepak Babaria jointly announced the 'Haryana Mange Hisab' yatra in Chandigarh on July 11. The yatra, led by Deepender Singh Hooda, was flagged off on July 15 by Uday Bhan.

The 'Haryana Mange Hisab' yatra will cover nearly a dozen assembly constituencies in the first phase. Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi are expected to join the yatra near the election. The motive of this yatra is to corner the ruling BJP on various issues, including inflation, unemployment, and law and order.

Bhupinder Singh Hooda and state Congress chief Uday Bhan will also hold a 'rath yatra' (chariot march) from August 20 onwards, immediately after Deepender Hooda concludes his yatra.

While Selja's Padyatra has no party backing so far, the yatras led by Deepender Hooda and Bhupinder Hooda will be a precursor to the main campaign, which will be launched by senior party leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi near the assembly election.

Interestingly, the Congress planned the yatras to expose the BJP government's failure to control unemployment, inflation, and law and order but exposed itself. Despite clear directions from the Congress high command that the state leaders should present a united front, the rival Haryana Congress factions are holding parallel yatras to assert themselves.

Kumari Selja's padyatra is being viewed as an attempt to create a parallel power centre in the Haryana Congress ahead of Assembly polls. Many of her supporters favour her as the chief ministerial candidate. The Hooda camp has already pitched Bhupinder Singh Hooda as the pre-poll chief ministerial candidate.

Hooda and Uday Bhan, along with the state party affairs in-charge Deepak Babaria, are seen together, which has fumed the opposition faction. Kumari Selja has accused Deepak Babaria of being inclined toward the Bhupinder Singh Hooda camp and ignoring the other leaders.

Notably, this is not the first time that anti-Hooda camp leaders have held a parallel yatra to show strength. In January this year, the then SRK group (Kumari Selja, Randeep Singh Surjewala, and Kiran Choudhary) had also brought Congress Sandesh yatra to Hisar to counter Bhupinder Singh Hooda's 'Ghar Ghar Congress' campaign.

Former Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Chandra Mohan Singh even addressed Kumari Selja as the next chief minister of the state.

Both factions aimed to strengthen Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra, but the parallel yatras brought the fissures within the party organisation to the fore. The Congress general secretary in-charge, Deepak Babaria, even appealed to the party workers to make the 'Ghar Ghar Congress' campaign a success.

BJP slams Congress for 'Haryana Mange Hisab' yatra

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who addressed a rally in Mahendergarh on July 16, mocked the Congress on its 'Haryana Mange Hisab' yatra.

"Congress didn't do anything in the name of development. Hooda sahab, why should we keep the debit? I have come up with the account and challenge you. Go to the people with your ten-year account and compare it with our governance. I am the son of a trader and will share every bit. You gave only Rs 4,100 crore, and the BJP government spent Rs 2,59,000 crore, which is six times higher," Amit Shah said.

Reacting to the parallel yatras, BJP spokesperson Praveen Attrey said that bringing all Congress leaders together was like "collecting frogs in a bucket".

"Kumari Selja and Bhupinder Singh Hooda have drawn daggers to get themselves announced as the pre-poll chief ministerial candidates. Internal feuds will be responsible for the party's shameful drubbing in the 2024 elections," Praveen Attrey said.