The Hindu : New Delhi News : Bhajan Lal detractors active again

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Sep 22, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

Bhajan Lal detractors active again

By Rajesh Ahuja

CHANDIGARH, SEPT. 21. The faction-ridden Congress in Haryana seems to have entered election mode with the Assembly elections likely to be held before March next year. Prominent leaders have started gearing themselves up to mobilise public support as well as the "blessings'' of the party high command and they have made it amply clear that they too are in the race for the Chief Minister's post.

According to Haryana-watchers, the Jat leaders in the Congress have been traditionally opposed to the former Chief Minister and president of the state unit of the party, Bhajan Lal, who is said to be the uncrowned leader of the non-Jats, to appease their community members. However, Mr.Bhajan Lal, despite his ill-health, is said to be in command of the situation and rumours spread by his political detractors that he is being axed as the State unit chief have failed to materialise. Insiders say that it has been conveyed to the party High Command that removing Mr.Bhajan Lal at this late juncture may not prove an easy task and may rather prove counter-productive. It has also been conveyed to the Central leadership that the party managed to win nine of the 10 Lok Sabha seats under Mr.Bhajan Lal's leadership in sharp contrast to the ground realities between 1996 and 2004 when the party failed miserably on the electoral front.

The Jat leaders, including the former State unit Presidents, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Birender Singh and Shamsher Singh Surjewala, who at one time or the other have stoutly opposed Mr.Bhajan Lal and launched efforts to dislodge him, have started singing their own tunes in a bid to assume number one position in the State. The Indian Youth Congress President and AICC Secretary, Randeep Singh Surjewala, has also become quite active in State politics by taking credit for exposing the Gurgoan land scam in which the ruling Devi Lal clan is said to be involved.

Mr.Hooda, who won the Rohtak Parliamentary seat in May this year, has made his intentions clear that he would contest the Assembly elections. His supporters are projecting him as the next Chief Minister. However, political observers say that the "successful'' rally organised by supporters of Mr.Birender Singh, the grandson of the legendary Chhottu Ram, at Rohtak last Saturday, has sent a clear message to the workers that he still enjoys public support which he can convert into solid votes for the party.

It is being said in political circles that Mr.Birender Singh has thrown a direct challenge to Mr.Hooda's leadership and his aspirations by holding a rally in his home fief. Even die-hard supporters of Mr.Bhajan Lal admit that Mr. Singh can play an active role in State politics in the years to come.

Mr.Bhajan Lal, while asserting that he is enjoying good health, asserts that the Congress will form the next Government in the State and win over 72 of the 90 seats. Instead of reiterating that he would become the Chief Minister, he has changed his strategy by saying that the Congress supremo, Sonia Gandhi, and the elected MLAs will decide on the next Chief Minister.

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