Congress appoints Rao Narender Singh as Haryana unit chief, Bhupinder Hooda as CLP leader

New Delhi: The Congress on Monday appointed former MLA Rao Narender Singh as its Haryana chief while choosing ex Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda to don the role of Leader of Opposition in the state where the party has lost three consecutive Assembly elections.

The appointments came after 11 months of uncertainty over the choices with Hooda refusing to budge from his position even as his detractors Randeep Surjewala, Kumari Selja, Ajay Yadav and Birender Singh among others kept up the pressure.

Singh, a Yadav who pipped potential choices Chiranjeev Rao and Rao Dham Singh, replaced Udai Bhan, a Dalit who was also a Hooda camper. While Singh is said to be acceptable to all factions, he is considered “more closer” to Hooda and “more neutral” in party affairs.

Incidentally, Singh lost all three Assembly elections since 2014 after his first victory in 2009.

While district presidents were recently appointed for the first time in 12 years after district units were defunct, the party central leadership could not find a consensus over posts as Hooda remained adamant that the party president as well as CLP leadership will be as per his choice.

There have been question marks over Hooda’s leadership as the party had lost three consecutive Assembly elections since 2014. In 2024, the party was expected to regain power but Hooda’s alleged high-handedness in ticket distribution was counted as one of the main reasons for the defeat.

This time, the party decided to break its Jat-Dalit formula and replace it with Jat-OBC mix, which also echoes Rahul Gandhi’s social justice plank. Congress sources said the choice of Singh, an OBC, will also be a counter to BJP’s OBC playbook that chose Nayab Singh Saini, an OBC, as Chief Minister.

While some see the appointments as having a Hooda stamp, a section in the party believes it has also a message for the veteran Haryanvi. This section points to the delay in clearing Hooda’s name as CLP leader, claiming that the party was signalling that it is unwilling to play fully to Hooda’s tunes.

However, others claim that Singh, a former Haryana Janhit Party leader, is a Hooda supporter and point to his defection to the Congress in 2009. The Congress under Hooda did not have a majority and Singh along with four others defected and was made minister.