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The Congress Wednesday made it clear that it will not allow its MPs — both from the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha — to contest the October 1 Assembly polls in Haryana where the party is “Nobody will be given permission to contest,” said Deepak Babaria, the AICC in-charge for Haryana, as the party’s screening committee, headed by Ajay Maken, met in national capital to discuss potential names for Haryana’s 90 Assembly seats.
Babaria’s remarks come at a time when Sirsa MP Kumari Selja and Rajya Sabha member Randeep Surjewala have expressed keen desire to contest the elections. Babaria said that party wants the MPs to focus on campaigning in Haryana and not on contesting the state polls.
Babaria also denied receiving feelers from any MP for contesting the Haryana elections.
“No MP has shown any desire to contest the Assembly elections. To fight elections they will be required to take permission from the Congress president and high command and the broad thinking that is emerging is that no one will be given permission,” Babaria told reporters,
In this year’s Lok Sabha elections, Congress wrested five of the 10 seats in Haryana from the BJP. Those elected include Deepender Hooda, the son of former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. Deepender was a Rajya Sabha member and many within the state unit of Congress see him as the natural successor to Hooda if the party is elected to power. Hooda himself had recently made it clear that that he is “neither tired, nor retired” but had put the ball in the party high command’s court when asked if he will be the chief minister after getting a majority in the Assembly elections.
Selja, considered a bete noire of Hooda, on the other hand, has already expressed desire to contest the Vidhan Sabha polls and by extension, strengthen her claim to the chief minister’s post, if party is voted in.
She had been saying that she would like to work in the state because it gives a leader “an opportunity to serve the people who have chosen you and be able to resolve their issues”.
“Even before Lok Sabha polls, I had said that I have experience to work for the party at various forums and I feel that I need to work in Vidhan Sabha of Haryana. I have expressed my desire to the party high command. It is up to them to accept or deny it. Whatever duty I shall be assigned, I will perform it,” Selja, a five time Lok Sabha MP and one time Rajya Sabha member, had said.
Babaria, however, said that “when the claim of” an MP comes, “the screening committee’s approach would be that they should focus on the campaign instead of contesting”.
Meanwhile, the ruling BJP, which continues to target the Congress over prevailing factionalism, dared dared Congress to declare Selja as its CM candidate.
“The BJP has already nominated a chief minister (Nayab Singh Saini) from the backward class. Rahul Gandhi claims to strongly support the SC community. Let them (Congress) declare Selja ji as the chief ministerial candidate from Haryana so that one can know how much of a well-wisher of the (SC) community they are,” Haryana BJP posted on X in Hindi.
State Congress president Udai Bhan hit back saying BJP should worry about it’s own state of affairs. He said Congress never contests elections by declaring a CM face. “The party high command take a call after the party wins election,” he said.
On BJP declaring an OBC as CM face, he said, “Congress had declared leaders from Dalit community as chief ministers in Punjab and Maharashtra. BJP should also tell people who from the SC community have they made CM. Did BJP fight polls in Rajasthan with Bhajan Lal Sharma as CM face? Did they fight elections in Haryana with Manohar Lal Khattar as CM face? With this post, BJP has conceded defeat even before the polls. That is why they are coming up with excuse of string of holidays falling around the polling date of October 1 and writing to Election Commission to defer the polls,” said Bhan.
Meanwhile, sources within the party said that the screening committee held discussions on potential candidates for 25 seats. The screening is expected to go on for another three days before the committee submits a tentative list of candidates to the high command for final nod.
