Rumblings in Congress continue after Haryana debacle as prominent OBC face Ajay Yadav quits party

Yadav, a known detractor of former Chief Minister Bhupinder Hooda, has been upset with the party apparatus for some time as he was not considered for Gurgaon Lok Sabha seat.

New Delhi: The ripples created by the Haryana debacle refuses to die down in Congress with a senior leader Ajay Yadav on Thursday resigning from the party and the post of OBC Department chairman, alleging that the party has treated him shabbily after Sonia Gandhi left the party president's post.

Yadav, a known detractor of former Chief Minister Bhupinder Hooda who dominates the Haryana Congress for the past two decades, has been upset with the party apparatus for some time as he was not considered for Gurgaon Lok Sabha seat and his supporters were ignored for Assembly seats in Ahirwal region of Haryana where Yadavs and other OBCs have influence.

“I have sent my resignation letter to Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge from (the post of) Chairman, AICC OBC Department and also from (the) primary membership of Indian National Congress party,” he posted on ‘X’.

He said the decision to resign was "really hard" as his family had "70 years of association" with his father late Rao Abhey Singh becoming an MLA in 1952. "...thereafter I continued with family tradition but (I) am disillusioned with the party high command for treating me shabbily after Sonia Gandhi left the post of Congress president," he added.

Soon after Yadav's post, BJP IT Cell head Amit Malviya said on 'X', “Capt Ajay Singh Yadav, Chairman AICC OBC, criticised Rahul Gandhi and Congress leadership for not giving adequate representation to SC, ST and OBCs in the CWC and CEC. He has now resigned. Forced?”

His resignation comes as Haryana Congress has been thrown into doldrums following the defeat in the Assembly elections for the third consecutive time, amid a section blaming the domination of Hooda in the organisation and electioneering for the debacle. Yadav, Kumari Selja and Randeep Surjewala had been raising concerns over the style of functioning of Hooda.

The 66-year-old leader’s son Chiranjeev Rao was defeated in the recent Assembly polls from Rewari, which Yadav represented five times. He was also a former Haryana Minister and was appointed OBC Congress head in 2022.

On October 8 when the results came, Yadav appeared to blame the central leadership as he said  the party failed to perform well in southern parts of the state due to non-representation of Ahirwals in the leadership.

"The party should introspect for its failure in southern Haryana especially Gurugram, Rewari, Mahendragarh and Faridabad where it won just 1 seat. Ahirwal has no representation in CWC, CEC , AICC General Secretaries and even in HPCC...Chairman AICC OBC is an eyewash and toothless," he said tagging Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi in a post on 'X'.

Hooda camp is said to have managed to prevent Yadav from getting a ticket to fight Gurgaon Lok Sabha seat earlier this year. Congress candidate Raj Babbar lost to BJP's Rao Inderjit Singh, who also belongs to Ahirwal community.