Infighting in its Rajasthan unit has put a spoke in the wheels of election for the Congress president. Meanwhile, infighting in its Haryana unit has ensured that even the list of delegates from the state who will vote for the post remains stuck. A week after Haryana Congress president Udai Bhan and CLP leader Bhupinder Hooda said they had shortlisted the 195 delegates from the state for the election, the list is yet to be put up at the PCC office. Candidates contesting for the party president's election are supposed to get the names, addresses and contact numbers of the delegates, from across the country, for the election on October 17, so as to get in touch with them and rally support. Earlier, one of the contenders for the post, Shashi Tharoor, had demanded that the list be made public, following which the Congress had said it would be available to whoever asked for it. Sources said that courtesy the intense infighting in the Haryana Congress unit, and objections raised by several senior leaders, the delegate list is being kept under wraps. Randeep Surjewala, Kiran Choudhry and Kumari Selja, all known Hooda detractors, are believed to have approached the party high command accusing Hooda and Bhan of ignoring them in finalising the list of delegates. They also met chairman of the Congress’s Central Election Authority (CEA), Madhusudan Mistry, in New Delhi on Sunday, seeking his intervention. Bhan, however, claimed that they had submitted the list of 195 delegates from across the 180 blocks of the state unit to Mistry. “Anybody can get it from there,” he said, adding: “Whatever instructions we received from the top, we followed them, and submitted the list.” About senior leaders meeting Mistry and protesting over the selection of delegates, Bhan said: “He (Mistry) is the chairman of the Central Election Authority. Anybody can go and meet him. No favouritism has been done in the selection of delegates. The entire process took place in the presence of the Pradesh Returning Officer (former Rajasthan MP Tara Chand Bhagora).” Bhagora confirmed to The Indian Express that the list had been given to Mistry. However, he added that he was not aware why the Haryana PCC had not made the list public. About cases of more than one member of a family being in the delegate list, Udai Bhan said: “So, what is wrong in that? The selection happened on the basis of their work and efforts in increasing the membership of the party. There may be cases where a person and his son have been appointed as delegates, but it is purely on the basis of merit.” A senior Congress leader accused Hooda and Bhan of holding on to the list till the last minute, to ensure there was no “rebellion”. “On the day the aspirants (for delegate list) were called to the party office at Chandigarh, more than 250-odd party workers signed up. All those called to Chandigarh, when they realise their name is not on the list, they are bound to rebel. To avoid this crisis, the party is not releasing their names,” the leader told The Indian Express. Another Congress leader added, “As such, the appointment of delegates is happening after a long, long time. They have to be issued identity cards, as has happened in other units. It has not been done in case of Haryana's delegates. How will party workers know who is the delegate?” Since Hooda loyalist Udai Bhan replaced Kumari Selja as the Haryana Congress president, the former chief minister has had complete hold over the state unit. It also caused an already sulking Kuldeep Bishnoi to quit the Congress and join the BJP. On his way out, Bishnoi accused Hooda of “calling the shots” in the state unit and said it was no longer “Indian National Congress” but “Hooda Congress” in Haryana.
