Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: The anger against the “B-D (Bhupinder Hooda and his son Deepender) faction” is growing in the Congress following the debacle in Haryana with leaders raising questions about state in-charge Deepak Babaria’s “partisan” approach and the central leadership giving a free run to the Hoodas.
Anti-Hooda leaders, who were complaining about the dominance of the Hoodas and how Babaria was ignoring their claims, got a shot in the arm as Margaret Alva, who was party’s General Secretary and Haryana in-charge between 2004 to 2009, spoke about the Congress failing to strike a balance between “individual aspiration and the good of the party”.
Highlighting that she was in-charge when the party won the state twice, she said, “winning required staying neutral and unifying the party – striking a balance between individual aspiration and the good of the party.” This was the period when Hooda was catapulted to Chief Ministership, amid leaders ganging up against Bhajan Lal.
Without taking any names, she said, “in this election we failed to strike that balance. Large numbers of rebel candidates point to poor party management. The petty public squabbles, false bravado and a campaign that made many sections of Haryana society insecure all led to converting a sure win into a loss.”
Parvinder Pal Pari, Congress candidate from Ambala Cantt and considered to be a Kumari Selja loyalist, claimed, “this is not a defeat of the Congress, but of the B-D faction. In this election, the people clearly wanted Congress. There’s a saying, he who digs a pit for others often falls into it. He has now fallen into his own trap."
Shamsher Singh Gogi, another Selja loyalist who lost the elections, accused the senior Hooda of sabotaging his victory. “Dalits did not vote for us because they felt that Selja was disrespected. Dalits did not even vote for Selja's supporters because of this. I would say this is Hooda Congress’ defeat, it is not the defeat of the Congress.”
The defeat has brought to the fore the dysfunctional organisational structure in Haryana where the party functioned without district, block and booth committees for around 12 years. Detractors accuse Hooda of not allowing the formation of committees.
Selja's supporters believe that it was Hooda who ensured that she did not contest the Assembly election, as the leader from the Dalit community could be a threat to his dreams of becoming the Chief Minister. Selja herself had indicated to the central leadership her desire to contest the state polls much earlier.
They also pointed to the Haryana Congress going against the wishes of Rahul Gandhi, who wanted accommodation of I.N.D.I.A ally AAP.
Sources acknowledged that several leaders are finding fault with the leadership for giving Hooda a free hand while ignoring others. There is also a feeling that the party inadvertently sent a message that communities other than Jats are being ignored.
Haryana Assembly poll 2024 results| Check constituency results here
J&K Assembly poll 2024 results| Check constituency results here
Assembly Elections 2024 | In the first assembly polls since the Lok Sabha elections, Narendra Modi and the BJP defeated a rejuvenated and vindicated Opposition in the Haryana assembly polls. Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir voted after almost a decade, giving a decisive mandate to the National Conference-Congress alliance. Check live updates and track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.
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