Divided by ambition, united by BJP: Haryana Cong leaders on war footing

Of late, Congress leaders in Haryana seem to be on overdrive. In a bid to consolidate and expand their spheres of influence, they're singing the same song – albeit in their own individual styles. In the process, the leaders are merely justifying the old adage coined for the Congress – 'divided we stand, united we fall'.

The primary reason for this are party's forthcoming organisation polls in the state, while another reason is the leaders' push for greater roles ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.

For now, it is all a matter of posturing, and this is being done with aplomb.

The contenders

There are six main contenders in this game, not only for the post of Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) president, but also for a greater role in the polls two years from now.

These include current HPCC president Ashok Tanwar, former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Congress legislature party (CLP) leader Kiran Choudhry, All India Congress Committee (AICC) chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala, Rajya Sabha MP and former minister in the UPA regime Kumari Selja, and Kuldeep Bishnoi, who had merged his Haryana Janhit Congress with the Congress last year.

These leaders are busy holding public meetings across the state nowadays. In these meetings, they're taking a two-pronged approach – targeting the BJP regimes led by Narendra Modi at the Centre and Manohar Lal Khattar in the state for 'anti-people policies', and consolidating their respective mass bases and sending a message on their public support to the party high command.

For this, they have resorted to solo dharnas, rallies and outreach programmes.

The key issues they're raising against the BJP governments are the farm distress and the country-wide demand for a loan waiver, along with the implementation of the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission on agricultural produce, the impact of GST on small traders, harassment and goondaism by cow vigilante groups, loss of jobs on account of decline in manufacturing, and of course, the social fallout of last year's Jat reservation agitation.

What the leaders have been up to

Tanwar's campaign has been marked by holding dharnas among the farmers and interacting with traders and industrialists, along with a strong social media outreach.

What gives him a good chance to repeat as HPCC president is that he's a Dalit leader, along with his youthful image, being in the good books of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, and his relations with the Maken family.

Hooda began with Kisan Panchayats, which he plans to continue for the months to come. Later, he changed the nomenclature to 'Kisan Mazdoor Panchayats', in an attempt to include the working class in the campaign. He has been pointing out the industrial development under his tenure, besides what his government did for the farmers. He remains the most prominent leader in Haryana, commanding loyalty from a large number of MLAs, and a strong base in the Jat heartland. The CBI cases against him have failed to dampen his spirit, as he continues fighting both within and outside the party.

In recent days, Surjewala too has addressed 'Kisan Bachao' meetings. He has also been the main face at several 'Vyapar Bachao, Vyapari Bachao' (save trade, save traders) programmes, to attack the manner in which GST has been imposed in the country. The MLA from Kaithal and a prominent functionary of AICC is close to the Gandhi family.

Selja has also become active in her constituency of Ambala, while continuing to address farmers' meets and programmes of traders and industrialists. A Dalit leader and a former Union minister close to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, she has been another pillar of Congress politics in the state.

Kiran Choudhry, who till now was being seen as a partner in the Tanwar group, has also started making her individual presence felt through solo rallies in the state heartland. A former Deputy Speaker of the Delhi Assembly and the present Congress Legislative Party (CLP) leader in Haryana, she has launched the most aggressive attacks on Modi and Khattar on the issues of gender equality, for which Haryana is infamous, as also issues related to the defence services.

Lying low since the merger of his party into the Congress, Bishnoi and his wife Renuka have also become active on their home turf of Hisar and the adjoining areas. He has the advantage of being former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal's son. Bishnoi, Selja and Tanwar are the prominent non-Jat faces of the Congress in the state.

Not a worrying sign

The Congress has been trying to recapture the ground that it lost in the 2014 polls. But its biggest problem has been exactly what's on display recently – this game of internal one-upmanship.

But political observers like Balwant Takshak disagree with this view. He says: “What's the problem if they are having solo shows? The point is that they are attacking the BJP, which is what they should ideally be doing. There is no harm to the Congress if people support it thinking that their leader will be the next Chief Minister.”

On the issue of infighting, too, he feels there's nothing for the Congress to worry about... for now. “One, they are not attacking each other in public. Two, even if they do, they do not have any power to undermine their rivals. This power rests solely with the party high command. And most importantly, on one is speaking against the high command,” Takshak told Catch.

A senior Congress leader was also heard saying some days ago: “You must appreciate that the people are posing faith in the party. And this also shows our internal democratic values. No one is being stopped from organising rallies and meetings and speaking there. On certain days, we have top leaders having multiple rallies in separate parts of the state, reaching out to the people. This is a very good sign for the party as a whole.”