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1 party, 2 yatras — open strife in Haryana Congress as Hooda, Selja compete to ‘promote Rahul’s message’

January 17, 2024
Saqafy Times

Gurugram: Two factions of the Haryana Congress have launched parallel yatras, exposing the widening rift within the party’s state unit in an election year. Both claim to promote the message of Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra from Manipur to Maharashtra.

Two days after state Congress unit led by Udai Bhan, a confidant of former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, launched the “Ghar Ghar Congress, Har Ghar Congress” yatra, a faction of the state unit led by Kumari Selja — an All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary and known Hooda detractor — launched the “Congress Sandesh Yatra”.

Ahead of the launch of the Congress Sandesh Yatra, AICC general secretary in charge of Haryana Dipak Babaria issued a letter on his official letterhead informing party workers about the Ghar Ghar Congress yatra. This yatra, he wrote, aims to spread the message of Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra among the masses.

Babaria also advised cadres to participate in this yatra and refrain from taking part in any other programmes to avoid confusion among voters and the media. Although the letter did not mention what he meant by other programmes, the message was not lost on anyone.

In the undated letter, released Tuesday, Babaria also said that Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra seeks to ensure social, economic and political justice as envisioned in the Constitution.

Though refusing to comment on Babaria’s letter, Selja told ThePrint Wednesday — before the launch of the Congress Sandesh Yatra — that the programme is an extension of the party’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra.

“While Rahul ji is trying to unite the country and raising issues that concern a large population, the BJP is trying to divert people’s attention from the real issues. Since Lok Sabha elections are not far, we have decided to carry out the Congress Sandesh Yatra in all the 10 Lok Sabha constituencies of the state so that Rahul Gandhi’s message and that of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge is spread among the people of Haryana,” she said.

Selja, who has the support of fellow AICC general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala and former Haryana minister Kiran Choudhry, launched the Congress Sandesh Yatra from Hisar Wednesday. Surjewala, however, could not attend the launch citing personal engagements.

Derived from the credentials of the three leaders, the trio has earned a sobriquet of ‘SRK’ in political circles in Haryana.

Addressing supporters in Hisar, Selja said Wednesday that Rahul Gandhi walked from Kanyakumari to Kashmir and is now travelling from Imphal to Mumbai to promote the ideology of the Congress and that she, along with Surjewala and Choudhry, will travel across the state to unite people and expose the ‘falsehoods’ of the BJP.

Hitting out at the ruling BJP-JJP combine in Haryana, Selja alleged that the state witnessed several scams during the tenure of Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar but no accountability was fixed in any of the cases. Educated youngsters don’t have jobs, she said, adding that Haryana’s unemployment numbers are higher than that of any other state.

Striking an emotional chord with the people of her home district of Hisar, she said people supported her father Chaudhary Dalbir Singh and he went on to become a Union minister. She then sought people’s support to bring ‘the people’s government’ to power in the state.

In her speech, Kiran Choudhry said she was with Selja in her efforts. On her part, Selja addressed Choudhry as her elder sister while revealing that Choudhry was her “bhabhi” (sister-in-law) since Choudhry’s marriage with Bansi Lal’s son Surender Singh was solemnised at Chaudhary Dalbir Singh’s Delhi residence in the early 70s.

ThePrint reached Bhupinder Singh Hooda for comment but had not received a response by the time of publication. This report will be updated if and when a response is received.

On Monday, Hooda had said at the launch of the Ghar Ghar Congress yatra that Haryana now ranked number one in unemployment, crime, corruption and drugs under the BJP-JJP regime. Drawing a contrast, he added that the state was number one in per capita income, per capita investment and several other parameters when the Congress was in power.

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How the two yatras differ

The Ghar Ghar Congress yatra was announced at a meeting held at the Congress Bhawan in Chandigarh on 11 January. The meeting was presided over by AICC general secretary Babaria, Leader of the Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda, state Congress president Udai Bhan and Rajya Sabha MP Deepender Singh Hooda, among others.

Hooda’s media advisor Sunil Parti told ThePrint Wednesday that the party has tasked local leaders with conducting door-to-door outreach across the state. Senior leaders too will visit different constituencies from time to time, he added.

On Monday, Hooda visited homes and shops to interact with people to spread awareness about the policies of the Congress and expose the “failures” of the BJP-JJP government.

“While Hooda and Udai Bhan headed the campaign in Hisar and Narnaul, respectively, Monday, Deepender Singh Hooda headed it at Rohtak Tuesday. It will continue across the state where local-level leaders will visit voters to spread the message. Senior leaders like Hooda and Udai Bhan will visit wherever the local leaders invite them for the campaign.”

Selja’s media advisor Nilay Saini, meanwhile, told ThePrint Wednesday that the Congress Sandesh Yatra has been planned in such a manner that it would allow those part of it to remain in a parliamentary constituency for at least two days after a public rally is held there.

According to the schedule released so far, the Congress Sandesh Yatra will continue in Hisar on 17 and 18 January. After a day’s rest on 19 January, the yatra will proceed to Bhiwani–Mahendragarh on 20 and 21 January, followed by another day’s break. The yatra will be in Karnal on 24 and 25 January, and Sirsa on 27 and 29 January.

According to Saini, the Congress Sandesh Yatra will begin in each constituency with a public meeting at a local grain market, followed by gatherings in various assembly segments that fall within the parliamentary constituency.

(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)

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