In a win for Bhupinder Hooda, loyalist Udai Bhan appointed Haryana Congress chief

The All India Congress Committee (AICC) leader in charge of the Haryana unit, Vivek Bansal, told The Indian Express, “The party is supposed to do the balancing act. The most important thing at this point is to ensure unity in the state leadership. At the same time, by appointing the working presidents, the party has sent a message down the line that caste equations have been taken care of. It will strengthen the party as the leadership issue has been settled.”

Sources in the party said Hooda, who had been pushing for Selja’s ouster, was offered the HPCC president’s post but he turned it down. Party functionaries said Hooda, who met party president Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi on Tuesday, was not willing to step down as CLP leader because he wanted to remain the Leader of Opposition. According to insiders, Hooda suggested 67-year-old Bhan’s name as the next HPCC chief. Sources told The Indian Express that the central leadership, after deliberations that lasted a few weeks, agreed to give Hooda a free hand since most of the party’s 31 MLAs are on his side.

“The party high command has taken a good decision,” Hooda told The Indian Express. “Udai Bhan is a grassroots leader and a dependable Congress worker. The working presidents appointed by the party will also be working with him. It will provide new strength to the Congress in Haryana.”

Bhan, who is a four-time MLA from the constituencies of Hodal and Hassanpur, told The Indian Express, “The prime objective will be to strengthen the party at the ground level. We all will work under the able leadership and guidance of Bhupinder Singh Hooda and take the Congress to new heights. Since there is no leadership issue in the state unit now, we all will work together and strengthen the party at the block, booth, and district levels and across the state.”

Congress leaders in the state are interpreting the high command’s decision in light of the debacle in Punjab, saying the leadership did not want to commit a mistake like the one it made by rejecting Captain Amarinder Singh and taking a chance on Charanjit Singh Channi. In Haryana, which goes to the polls in 2024, the party decided to stick with “tried and tested” leaders and place its trust on Hooda, said sources.

Hooda’s dissent

The CLP leader’s position in the party this time around is in stark contrast to 2019 when, barely two months before the state elections, he organised a massive show of strength in Rohtak and spoke of his discord with central leaders. Claiming that the party had lost its way, Hooda told the audience that he would be “the CM candidate with or without the Congress”.

With the veteran leader in no mood to relent, the party acquiesced to his demands. As a result, then HPCC president Ashok Tanwar stepped down and Hooda was declared the party’s CM face. But, to keep caste equations in balance and not be seen as a Jat-dominated party, Selja — a Sonia loyalist — was put at the helm of the state unit. Despite a strong pro-BJP wave in the elections, Hooda managed to increase the party’s tally from 14 to 31 legislators.

The factionalism in the party, however, continued as Hooda and his son Deepender did not get along with Selja. Last month, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi met the senior leaders of the state unit — including Hooda, Selja, Surjewala, Choudhry, and Kuldeep Bishnoi — and called for unity. But, with Hooda unyielding and the high command backing him, Selja’s run as the HPCC chief came to an end. “I would only like to say that the party high command took a decision and we all shall abide by that. I extend my best wishes to the new team,” she said on Wednesday.

Deepender meets Sonia

Meanwhile, Deepender met Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi on Wednesday morning. “I got a call to meet her today. I went there and it was an extremely positive discussion. Various issues about strengthening the party in Haryana were discussed. I thank the Congress president and Rahul Gandhi ji for appointing Udai Bhan ji as HPCC president and also for sending a clear message that Chaudhary Bhupinder Singh Hooda is an all-acceptable leader in Haryana under whose leadership Congress will unitedly fight the upcoming polls and raise the voice of every section of the society. We shall be taking everybody along,” he told The Indian Express.

But Bansal claimed that the meeting was not related to the organisational changes as they had been decided last night. “Deepender’s meeting with Congress president was only a routine meeting. It was not linked with HPCC revamp because the decision was finalised last night. Only the formal announcement was made this afternoon,” he added.