CHANDIGARH: Locked in a tough electoral battle with the ruling BJP in Haryana, the Congress suddenly finds itself ill-at-ease: the party hasn’t been able to figure out what exactly is bothering Kumari Selja, AICC general secretary. For a couple of days, the party MP from Sirsa has been “absent” from the campaigning for the assembly elections in Haryana due October 5, setting tongues wagging in political circles.
Selja wields considerable influence in various assembly constituencies across the state, especially in Sirsa and Fatehabad. She was reportedly upset over the ticket distribution; she managed to get only nine tickets for her loyalists and was unable to convince to the party leadership to nominate her close aide Ajay Chaudhary for the Narnaund assembly seat even after declaring him a candidate. She was said to be seeking a nomination for a family member from Uklana. She had reportedly requested about 30 tickets to be given to her camp.
Of the 90 assembly seats in the state, 17 are reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates.
Insiders say senior party leader Randeep Singh Surjewala managed to get only four nominations of his choice. Both managed to get 13 tickets for their loyalists out of the 89 seats the party is contesting. The rest had the Bhupinder Singh Hooda stamp.
“It would suggest all is not well within the state unit,’’ said a party leader. Sleja did not attend an event in Delhi where Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge announced seven party guarantees.
Selja is active on the social media platform ‘X’, and recently posted a video of the arson in Bihar where several Mahadalit houses were torched. It also carried a screenshot of the programme where party guarantees for assembly elections were announced.
Despite repeated attempts to contact her, Selja was not available for her comment. A close aide said that she was at her residence in Delhi. Sunil Parti, media adviser to the leader of Opposition and former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda, declined to comment.
However, Bhim Army chief Chandra Shekhar Azad stepped out. “How many times should a person be disrespected? Someone who has served the party for so long is now facing disrespect,” he said.