Haryana Cong meet today,all eyes on detractors

Among the detractors,Rajya Sabha MP Birender Singh is likely to skip the meeting. One of the most vocal detractors in the party,he is peeved at the fact that his son was not considered for candidature in the Hisar bypoll. Political analysts said that his son Brijendra Singh,a 1998-batch IAS officer who is currently posted as the Chandigarh deputy commissioner,would have been a stronger candidate than JP. Birender is also said to have met AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi to get a ticket for his son. Jai Prakash was the chief minister’s choice and according to sources,the high command had left it to him to choose the candidate.

After it was decided that Jai Prakash will be the candidate for the Hisar bypoll,Birender mostly stayed away from the constituency. Other than brief one day visits to Hisar and Uchana in the first week of October,he reportedly did not actively campaign for JP,despite the fact that he has a stronghold in the area. In the Vidhan Sabha elections in 2009,he had contested against INLD chief Om Prakash Chautala from Uchana Kalan and lost by 620 votes.

Meanwhile,Union Minister and Ambala MP Kumari Selja is also likely to give the meeting a miss. Another unsparing critic of the chief minister,on several occasions,Selja has shown her disapproval of Hooda’s policies — especially the state’s land acquisition policy. Sources said the Dalit leader was also among several non-Jat leaders of the Congress in Haryana who feel that the Congress,led by Hooda,has become pro-Jat and was losing its secular image.

This issue is also likely to be discussed in Friday’s meeting. Cabinet minister Captain Ajay Yadav,who is leading the non-Jat group of Congressmen in the state,will attend the meet. “I will reach this evening for the meeting,” he said adding that every issue regarding the defeat of JP will be discussed. Yadav,who is currently the state power minister,was shifted from finance minister’s post in June. Yadav saw this as his “demotion” and went public saying that he will not be “cowed” down by the move.

He camped in New Delhi for over 10 days to meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

Moreover,the non-Jat leaders are expected to highlight the fact that ignoring them has cost the party dear in the the Hisar bypoll,which saw a crystallisation of Jat and non-Jat votes.