×
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Congress gears up to take on BJP in Haryana

Last Updated 27 September 2019, 20:35 IST

Gearing up to take on the BJP in Haryana, a faction-ridden Congress on Friday launched a campaign targeting Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, by trying to involve voters in seeking answers on claims of development and the law and order situation in the state.

Haryana Congress chief Kumari Selja and former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda launched the campaign 'Pehle Report, Phir Vote' (first report, then vote) exhorting voters to seek accountability from the BJP government by dialling a phone number and leaving a message on the problems faced in each of the 90 Assembly constituencies.

The campaign launch in Gurgaon, on the fringes of the national capital, was attended by senior leaders Kuldeep Bishnoi, Ajay Yadav among others. However, former state unit chief 43-year-old Ashok Tanwar, who was replaced at the insistence of arch-rival Hooda, gave the function a miss, virtually dashing the Congress' claims of unity.

“Congress is not a party of any individual leader. We all will fight the elections as one,” Hooda said when questioned about Tanwar's absence.

Tanwar, who was replaced with Selja, has been skipping party functions since the reshuffle in the party on September 4.

Congress has 17 MLAs in the 90-member Assembly, out of which 12 are supporters of Hooda

“I will support Hooda and Selja in the same way that they had supported me over the years,” has been Tanwar's refrain on the Congress' claims of unity within the Haryana unit.

Tanwar was handed the reins of the Haryana unit of the Congress in 2014 - months before the Assembly elections - much against the wishes of Hooda, who was at the end of his second tenure as chief minister.

Supporters of Hooda and Tanwar have clashed often and at least on one occasion, the young leader was at the receiving end himself and had to be hospitalised for a few days.

On Friday, Hooda read out a litany of complaints against the BJP government questioning its performance on several counts, including rising unemployment, power cuts, agrarian distress, law and order situation.

ADVERTISEMENT
(Published 27 September 2019, 15:27 IST)

Follow us on

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT