Udai Bhan, a former three-time legislator from Hodal, was on Wednesday appointed as the president of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) after party chief Sonia Gandhi accepted the resignation of Kumari Selja in an attempt to stamp out the ongoing infighting in the unit.
The 58-year-old Bhan, who is from the Scheduled Caste community, is considered close to former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who is the party’s tallest leader in the state. Bhan will have four working presidents with him: Shruti Choudhry, former MP and daughter of ex-state unit chief Kiran Choudhry; Ram Kishan Gujjar; Jitender Bhardwaj; and Suresh Gupta.
The decision comes after hectic parleys between Congress and Hooda and finally Hooda had his way in the appointment. Now, both the CLP and state President's post have gone to the Hooda's camp.
Though Udai Bhan is also a Scheduled Caste as outgoing state President Kumari Selja but the party has tried to strike balance between various communities, especially the Jats, it has appointed former MP Shruti Chaudhary, who is from the Jat community, as one of the Working Presidents. The others are Ram Kishan Gujjar, Suresh Gupta, and Jitendra Kumar Bhardwaj.
Bhan is the son of Gaya Lal, the infamous Haryana politician who is the inspiration for the colloquial phrase “Aaya Ram, Gaya Ram” for turncoats because he once changed three parties in a single day. His father Gaya Lal was also an MLA from the Hodal constituency. Talking to reporters, Bhan thanked the Congress leadership for showing faith in him for the assembly elections that are due in 2024. He said, "The entire Congress is united and we will win the forthcoming elections."
Hooda, leader of the opposition in Haryana, termed Bhan a hard working leader who has worked at the grassroots. "His appointment will further strengthen the Congress," Hooda said. Referring to the appointment of the four working presidents, Hooda said, "All will work together and strengthen the Congress."
Former president Kumari Selja said, "I am a true soldier of the Congress party. I have full faith in my high command and we will all work together. I congratulate the new state unit president and the working presidents."
In Haryana, Congress was witnessing an internal rift and as a result, the district committees were not formed. Ahead of its internal elections, the party wants to put its house in order. The Congress was in a huddle over streamlining its Haryana unit where the party has plenty of claimants for the top post in the state. Hooda, a two-time Chief Minister, was pushing for a change in the state set up and has been meeting party leaders including Rahul Gandhi.
Sources in Congress said that primarily the party high command had offered Hooda to be made the HPCC president. But in that case, he was supposed to leave the post of the leader of the Congress Legislative Party (CLP). The sources, however, disclosed that Hooda did not agree to this option as the majority of the Congress MLAs were backing him up as the CLP leader.
Udai Bhan’s appointment as the party chief in Haryana can mean a win-win situation for Congress as the rejig not only solves the infighting in the party’s Haryana unit but also retains the Dalit face of the party as Selja was replaced by another Dalit leader.