Gurugram: A month after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stormed to power in Haryana for a third straight term even as most exit polls predicted a Congress victory, a deeply divided Congress is yet to name its Legislature Party leader.
With 37 legislators in the 90-member Haryana assembly, the Congress Legislature Party’s (CLP’s) leader will also become the Leader of Opposition (LoP), who enjoys the status of a cabinet minister. The Congress went into the first assembly session on 25 October without a CLP leader, and now, even as the winter session is scheduled to begin on 13 November, there is no word on who will get the coveted post.
The uncertainty is causing restlessness in the Haryana Congress. Party sources told ThePrint that that while most MLAs were in favour of former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda being made the CLP leader, the faction led by Sirsa MP Kumari Selja wants a new face to be entrusted with the responsibility, holding Hooda responsible for the poll defeat.
The Congress high command had appointed former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot, party treasurer Ajay Maken and Punjab LoP Partap Singh Bajwa as observers for the appointment of the CLP leader. On 18 October, they met with the newly elected MLAs in Chandigarh to ascertain their views.
The observers declared that since the MLAs authorised the party’s central leadership to name the CLP leader, the high command would reveal the name soon.
Bharat Bhushan Batra, Congress MLA from Rohtak and chief whip of the party in the last assembly (2019 to 2024), admitted that there was an inordinate delay in naming the CLP leader and it must be announced before the start of the assembly’s winter session.
“The party leadership should end the uncertainty over the appointment of the CLP leader. The observers ascertained the views of the MLAs nearly three weeks ago and hence, the CLP leader must be declared without further ado,” Batra told ThePrint Friday.
However, according to Batra, the non-appointment of the CLP leader will not affect how the assembly session is run because, in the absence of someone in this post, the Speaker can include any Congress member in the business advisory committee (BAC).
Ashok Arora, Congress MLA from Thanesar, said this was not the first instance of a party delaying the naming of its Legislature Party leader.
“Last year, the BJP failed to name its leader in the Karnataka assembly for a long time and hence, the appointment of LoP dragged on for over six months,” Arora told The Print Friday.
Hooda, Congress LoP in the last assembly, told ThePrint that he was not aware of the reasons behind the delay, but added that it could be due to preparations for the Maharashtra and Jharkhand elections.
Jitendra Baghel, the newly appointed co-in charge of Haryana Congress, however, said the party would announce the name very soon.
“Right now, I am in the national capital busy with the party’s ‘Delhi Nyay Yatra’ beginning today. Several senior leaders of the party are participating. Moreover, the central leadership is busy preparing for the Maharashtra and Jharkhand assembly polls,” Baghel told ThePrint Friday.
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‘Two big reasons’
Jyoti Mishra, a researcher at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), told ThePrint that a party in the Haryana Opposition taking so long to name its leader is “unprecedented”.
“This is the first time in 20 years a party is facing so much difficulty finalising the LoP in the state. I see two major reasons behind this. One obvious reason is the Congress’s continuous defeats in the last three elections—2014, 2019 and 2014. Even in 2009, Congress emerged as the largest party but fell short of a majority,” Mishra said.
The second reason, she added, is the “infighting” within the Congress, which was quite evident during this year’s assembly elections. “The factions led by All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Selja, and Hooda conducted separate campaigns.”
Mishra added that every time, after the election results in 2005, 2009, 2014 and 2019, the LoP was chosen within about 15 days. “This year, the Congress was hoping to form the government, but the party only won 37 seats. This has led to intense debates over who must be named the LoP.”
Who the Selja & Hooda factions prefer
Sources in the Congress told ThePrint that the Selja faction wants former chief minister Bhajan Lal’s son Chander Mohan—the newly elected MLA from Panchkula—as the new CLP leader.
Meanwhile, the Hooda faction exhibited its strength by gathering 32 MLAs at his Delhi residence ahead of the Chandigarh meeting with party observers.
While Batra said the MLAs wanted Hooda to be named the CLP leader and LoP, a Congress leader, who did not wish to be named, told ThePrint that the Hooda faction would not mind Jhajjar MLA Geeta Bhukkal, Arora or any other senior MLA from that section being given the position.
(Edited by Radifah Kabir)
