Chandigarh: With barely a few months left for the Lok Sabha and state Vidhan Sabha elections, factionalism seems to have taken a toll on Congress’ prospects in the state.
Spearheading the feud in Congress are former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and the state party chief Ashok Tanwar. To add to the party's worries, senior party leaders like CLP leader Kiran Chowdhary, former party spokesperson Randeep Surjewala, former Union minister Kumari Selja and former MP Kuldeep Bishnoi who returned to Congress, are vying for the top post in the party and state if the Congress comes back into power.
The infighting cost the party a drubbing at the hands of the BJP in the recently concluded civic bodies’ polls. Though the Congress leadership had decided not to contest the elections, it unsuccessfully supported a number of candidates in the five municipal corporations and two municipal committees that went to polls.
In Rohtak, two Congressmen; one each from the Hooda and Tanwar camp, had even filed their nominations for the Mayor’s post, exposing the rift within.
A few weeks before the civic bodies’ polls, the fissures in the state Congress reached a crescendo with the Hooda and Tanwar factions slugging it out in front of the party high command. While Tanwar was in favour of the party contesting the polls, Hooda was successful in convincing the leadership otherwise.
This was a victory of sorts for Hooda. Had the Congress fought the elections on its symbol and eventually won, the Tanwar camp would have emerged stronger and it would have been detrimental to Hooda’s prospects. Tanwar had later put the blame for the drubbing on Hooda saying that the decision of not contesting on party symbol had caused the loss.
The factional feud continues to simmer as the Bhupinder Singh Hooda led faction recently passed a ‘resolution’ authorizing the party high command to appoint a new party president soon. He also went to the extent of stating that there was no Congress organization in the state.
“We don’t have a Block Samiti president, neither a Zila Samiti president. In such a scenario, the organization suffers. Elections are near the corner and it’s time to strengthen the organization”, said Hooda on being asked if he preferred a change in party leadership in the state.
The rivalry between the two party big-wigs in not hidden from anyone. The two have desperately tried to put each other on the mat, frequently taking a jibe at each other’s rallies. Senior party leaders have tried to iron out the differences between the two, but to no avail.
“In the larger interest of the party”, Tanwar had even offered to bury the hatchet, but truce continues to elude.
In the first half of 2019, the Hooda and Tanwar camps embarked upon Jankranti Yatra and Cycle Yatra, respectively, and toured the state. The two different campaigns prompted the opposition parties to satirically state that the “Tyres of Congress’ vehicle don’t match (referring to Tanwar’s cycle and Hooda’s bus)”.
In 2004, Bhupinder Singh Hooda enjoyed strong backing from the party and was successful even in edging out a seasoned politician like Bhajan Lal to grab the Chief Minister’s chair. Hooda replaced Lal in 2004 mainly because he was a Jat leader.
After being at the helm for two consecutive terms, Hooda virtually went into political oblivion after the 2014 rout. While many former chief ministers like Ashok Gehlot and Ashok Chavan were adjusted into the organisation, Hooda was left out. The latter is now again building his base in the party.
Tanwar, on the other hand, is a non-Jat leader and a Dalit face of the Congress in Haryana where the Scheduled Castes account for around 22% of the population. A JNU alumnus, Tanwar became MP for the first time in 2009 from Haryana. As president of the Youth Congress, he rose through the ranks within the party and boasts of close ties with party president Rahul Gandhi.
Jats comprise 29% of Haryana population. In 2014, Congress’ vote percentage stood at 20% but won only 15 seats, lending voice to Hooda’s opponents who claimed that it was Om Prakash Chautala or the INLD for whom the Jats have always voted. Probably, this is what Tanwar might be thinking too.
It’s not like Hooda is the sole Jat leader in Haryana Congress. AICC spokesperson Randeep Surjewala and CLP leader Kiran Choudhary, too, are Jat faces of the party. The three don’t get along either. The other major Jat faces were Union minister Chaudhary Birendra Singh and Rao Inderjit Singh, both of whom had quit the Congress after a fall-out with Hooda. Former Union minister Kumari Selja, is another CM aspirant in the Haryana Congress.
And then there is Kuldeep Bishnoi, who has until now chosen to remain off the limelight. He reportedly is spending majority of his time in Delhi, hoping to turn the tide in his favour.
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