Divided Haryana Congress hopes it is third time lucky in bid to revamp organisation

Indian Express

29-04-2025

Six months after losing the Haryana Assembly elections, the Congress has launched another attempt to strengthen its grassroots organisation via a revamp of the district-level committees, in particular for its 'Samvidhan Bachao (Save the Constitution)' campaign in the state.
In a state where the party has long struggled with organisational gaps going down to the block level, and where it is yet to appoint a Leader of the Opposition six months after losing the Assembly polls, this marks the third effort in just about six months to establish district-level committees.
Last December, Haryana Congress president Udai Bhan had released a list of in-charges for all 22 districts in the state in preparation for the March 2 civic body elections. However, factional disputes prevented the appointments of these office-bearers.
Objections to Bhan's list from then AICC Haryana in-charge Dipak Babaria had led to revisions. Babaria later released a new list of district in-charges, conveners, and committee members to manage the civic polls. But this also faced criticism from Ambala MP Varun Choudhary, for including inactive members and non-party individuals.
The latest committees, formed with the approval of AICC Haryana in-charge B K Hariprasad, are seen as a trial run towards establishing a full-fledged organisation at the district level.
While former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who is very close to Bhan, has raised expectations regarding these committees, the way forward is likely to be difficult given the divide between the factions led by Hooda and former Union Minister and Sirsa MP Kumari Selja.
A Congress leader close to Selja said most of the chairpersons or conveners appointed for the district-level committees belong to Hooda's camp.
In fact, Selja as chairperson for the Sirsa and Fatehabad districts, and Kaithal MLA Aditya Surjewala, the son of another Hooda rival, Rajdeep Surjewala, as convener for the Kaithal district are the only two exceptions to this.
A Congress leader close to Selja pointed out that Jitender Kumar Bhardwaj, a working president of the Haryana Congress, has been made chairperson for the Gurgaon and Nuh districts, while two other working presidents – Ram Kishan Gurjar and Suresh Gupta – have not been assigned responsibilities for any district. Bhardwaj is known to be close to Hooda, whereas Gupta is considered close to Selja. Similarly, the leader alleged that former state minister Ajay Singh Yadav has also been overlooked. Hooda's son and sitting Lok Sabha MP Deepender Singh Hooda has been appointed chairperson for three districts – Rohtak, Jhajjar, and Rewari.
Despite these concerns, Aditya Surjewala views the formation of the committees as a positive step towards strengthening the party in Haryana. 'This will energise party workers at the grassroots. It would prove to be a step toward forming the party organisation in Haryana,' the MLA said.
Nearly a week ago, the Congress announced plans to hold nationwide 'Samvidhan Bachao' campaigns at various levels from April 25 to May 30. From May 20 to 30, the campaign will engage in door-to-door outreach. Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, INDIA bloc leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, had accused the BJP of 'destroying the Constitution', a plank that has provided a significant boost to the Opposition.
Lal Bahadur Khowal, chairman of the Haryana Congress legal cell, emphasised the importance of this campaign, stating, 'This is an important move to save the Constitution in light of recent attacks on its soul. Under this campaign, we will hold functions to educate people on how attempts have been made to target key provisions of the Constitution.'