Trouble brews in Haryana Congress over poll first list; senior leader quits

Dissent is brewing in the ranks of the Haryana Congress after the release of its first list of candidates for the upcoming Assembly elections — just like the BJP faced earlier this week.

Senior Haryana Congress leader Rajesh Joon, furious upon not being given a poll ticket, has resigned from all party posts and announced that he will contest the polls as an Independent candidate. Joon has claimed that he will poll double the number of votes that the Congress candidate gets.

The Congress on Friday (September 6) unveiled its first list of 32 candidates, including former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda from Garhi Sampla-Kiloi, wrestler Vinesh Phogat from Julana, and the party’s state unit chief Udai Bhan from Hodal.

The problematic Bahadurgarh seat

For the Bahadurgarh seat, sitting MLA Rajinder Singh Joon has been renominated, making the other Joon see red.

This is like an action replay of 2019, when too Rajesh Joon and another Congress leader had rebelled against the party. They had even submitted their nominations for the Bahadurgarh seat, but had withdrawn after Hooda’s intervention.

Rajesh Joon told the media he felt cheated by the party leadership. “I was promised a ticket but the promise was not kept,” he fumed.

Discord over AAP ties

Chances look bright this time for the Congress in Haryana, where it won five of the 10 Lok Sabha seats earlier this year. The party will want to make sure that any discontent within its ranks do not upset its plans of dislodging the BJP, which has ruled the state since 2014.

Already, another discontent has been brewing within the party since senior leader Rahul Gandhi encouraged an alliance with its INDIA bloc partner AAP. However, there is a stalemate on that count too, with a discord brewing between the two over seat sharing.

The BJP also faced similar dissent from its leaders after releasing its first list of 67 names on Wednesday.

BJP’s woes

Energy Minister Ranjit Chautala and MLA Lakshman Napa resigned from the party after being denied poll tickets. Chautala will contest as an Independent candidate, while Napa has said he will join the Congress.

Chautala is the son of Chaudhary Devi Lal Chaudhary, who served as the state chief minister twice and also as a deputy prime minister.

Another MLA, Shashi Ranjan Parmar, was also visibly miserable at being dropped from the list.

Haryana will vote for all its 90 Assembly seats on October 5. Counting will be held on October 8.