To address the various organisational issues within the Haryana Congress, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, will visit Chandigarh on June 4. After Gujarat, Gandhi has set his eyes on rebuilding the party’s organisation in faction-ridden Haryana and will meet State Party leaders at the office of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC).
Senior leaders of the State who are expected to attend the meeting include former Chief Minister Bhupinder Hooda, HPCC chief Udai Bhan, former Union Minister and Sirsa MP Kumari Selja, Rajya Sabha MP Randeep Surjewala and Rohtak MP Deepender Hooda.
During his visit, he will also inaugurate the 'Sangathan Srajan Abhiyan' (Organisation Rejuvenation Campaign) announced during the extended Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting held in Belagavi in December 2024. "The 'Abhiyan' is being launched to strengthen the organisation at the grassroots level and instill enthusiasm among party workers.
In Haryana, there has been no district-level organisation for the past over 11 years and the campaign is being seen by Congress leaders as the long overdue churning that should have taken place well before the 2024 Assembly polls.
Talking to Reporters in Chandigarh, party general secretary and in-charge of Haryana, BK Hariprasad, said that the State Congress has started preparations for Rahul Gandhi's visit. He would hold two meetings for the restructuring of the party when he arrives in the state for a day-long visit under the Sangathan Srujan Abhiyan.
“The first meeting will be with 17 senior leaders, including former chief minister, former PCC president, former Congress Legislature Party leaders, AICC office-bearers and three all-India chairpersons. They will give feedback on the reorganisation of the party and also the politics on the ground. This will be followed by a second meeting to be held with 22 AICC observers and 90 PCC observers. This will focus on conveying how the party expects them to go about the panel selection for district chiefs,” he said.
Hariprasad further said those MLAs keen to meet the Congress leader would have to seek an appointment since he would be in the state only to deliberate on an organisational overhaul.
State Congress chief Udai Bhan said observers have been appointed by the Haryana Congress to give a new strength to the organisation. As many as 69 observers and 8 additional observers have been appointed. Congress's list of observers includes 16 former MLAs and one former MP. The Congress High Command has also appointed observers in all the districts.
Talking to The Pioneer, a Congress MLA said, “MLAs too, are keen to meet Rahul Gandhi and have conveyed their sentiments to the party top brass. “We will be happy even if Rahul Gandhi simply addresses us. There should be a meeting since some MLAs claim that the party leadership did not care to meet them post-election."
For the last eleven years, the issue of forming the executive at the district level has been hanging fire due to infighting between Hooda and his rivals within the party. All this began during the tenure of former MP Ashok Tanwar as HPCC president and continues till now. Various lists of proposed district executives prepared during the tenure of Selja and Udai Bhan were lying unused in the AICC headquarters. As a result, Haryana Congress contested two general elections and three assembly elections without any executive in place. It was not just the district executive; even the Congress high command has not yet cleared the name of the CLP leader despite the party being the major opposition party with 37 MLAs.