AICC’s Haryana in-charge Babaria: ‘I stalled Udai Bhan (PCC chief)’s bid to appoint district in-charges due to procedural lapses’

On December 19, All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary in charge of Haryana, Dipak Babaria, put Bhan’s list on hold. Significantly, Babaria’s order was not made public until Tuesday evening, after he put his foot down and insisted upon its release, party sources said.
In an interview with The Indian Express, Babaria speaks about this decision among other issues relating to the Haryana Congress. Excerpts:

Why did you stall Bhan’s list of the Congress district in-charges?

It is correct that I have withheld this list. There were certain procedural lapses in the list which is why I issued the orders to withhold it till further orders.

Did you take the decision because a particular group dominated the list?

I would not comment on that, but I believe that discussions with certain sections of state Congress leadership were not held before releasing this list. Suggestions/discussions involving the state leadership will be held after which a fresh list will be released. The entire state Congress leadership should have their say, and their suggestions need to be sought and incorporated before making such appointments.

Who were appointed by Bhan as the district party in-charges?

Among the current Congress MLAs, Aftab Ahmed, Shsishpal Keharwala, Nirmal Singh, Naresh Selwal, Raghubir Singh Tewatia and Ashok Arora were appointed as district in-charges. Among the former MLAs, Bishan Lal Saini, Rao Dan Singh, Subhash Goel, Amit Sihag, Karan Singh Dalal, Chiranjeev Rao, Anand Singh Dangi, Subhash Deswal, Lehri Singh, Mewa Singh, Bhim Sen Mehta, Niraj Sharma, Jaiveer Singh Balmiki, Sant Kumar were included. Other Congress leaders including Thakur Raja Ram, Lakhan Singla and Bajrang Das Garg were also included in the list of 22 district in-charges released by Udai Bhan.

While Congress battles factionalism, the ruling BJP is going ahead with strengthening its cadre. How do you look at it?

The BJP is only misleading people by doing these things (membership drive and organisational elections etc.). They know that they are unauthorisedly sitting in the government. They adopted all sorts of tricks of the trade and formed the government, while the public will was against them. Yet, they managed to win and form the government. Their lies will be exposed and people will throw them out of power soon.
You look at what’s happening due to Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s remarks about Dr B R Ambedkar (in the Rajya Sabha). People are agitated due to his remarks across the country. The same sentiment is building in Haryana too, where people cannot believe how BJP came to power against people’s wish. We are also taking the legal recourse and have filed election petitions.

But these election petitions have been adjourned for early next year?

We are taking all legal remedies available. The Election Commission is as such facing the ire of people. We are going among the people across all states. We are educating people about how the BJP committed foul play and the disrespect that they caused to Dr B R Ambedkar, citing Amit Shah’s remarks against him. When the time comes, people will automatically throw them (BJP) out of power. They (BJP) misused the official machinery, to get Haryana election results in their favour. We are exposing their lies, their manipulations in front of the public through media and in the court by way of filing the election petitions.

How do you plan to take on the BJP in the Haryana civic body polls which are likely to take place next month?

We are preparing for the upcoming civic body polls. Committees are being constituted at the municipal level and soon things will be moving. Decisions are required to be taken in consultation with the state leadership that will be done in the first week of January. The decision on whether to contest the polls on party symbol and selection of candidates shall be taken after consultation with the state leadership.