Congress leader and leader of Opposition in Haryana Bhupinder Singh Hooda.
| Photo Credit: ANI
Factionalism in the Congress’s Haryana unit could hurt the main Opposition party’s ambitions to wrest power from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in the State’s Assembly election, due to be held on October 1.
For the Congress, which has been out of power for a decade, the election is a battle to revive the party in the State. Upbeat after its performance in the recent Lok Sabha poll, in which it won five parliamentary seats of the nine it contested in the State, the Congress has stepped up its campaign.
Though the party’s campaign has gathered momentum, senior leaders — including Leader of the Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Lok Sabha MP Kumari Selja, and Rajya Sabha MP Randeep Singh Surjewala — are each holding a spree of separate rallies and events under different titles across the State, fueling the perception among voters that the Congress is a ‘divided house’. Factionalism is also seen as the main reason why the party has not had any block or district committees in the State for the last nine years.
‘Differences, but no conflict’
The Congress is pitching the multiple rallies as a positive development. “There’s no question of the party’s working as a divided house,” Congress State chief Chaudhary Udaybhan told The Hindu on Friday. “All leaders are campaigning to strengthen the party, ours is a democratic party. There may be differences but there’s no conflict. The leaders are trying to present their claim for the Chief Minister’s post through their rallies. It is a good sign that there are two-three claimants for the Chief Minister’s post. The people are also aware of this and the final decision would be taken by the party,” he added.
The upcoming poll is largely being seen as a direct contest between the BJP and the Congress, though the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP), the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) are also in the fray.
With the Congress struggling to get its house in order, the BJP has been taking potshots at its main challenger, with the ruling party’s leaders mocking the Congress over its “infighting” and several Chief Ministerial candidates.
‘Must address factionalism’
Some political observers also say that the Congress’s factionalism may prove costly in the fight for the 90-member State Assembly.
“The Congress certainly appears to be having an electoral edge ahead of the upcoming Assembly election, given their recent performance in the Lok Sabha election in which they won five seats. However, factionalism is a factor that the party should address as it could dent the party’s prospects,” Vijay Chauhan, assistant professor and the Head of Political Science Department at Maharana Pratap National College, Mullana in Ambala, told The Hindu. “The perception of a ‘divided house’ among the people is not a good sign for any party. The Congress has invariably been plagued with factionalism but despite that, it had won previously in the State. The BJP is facing anti-incumbency, which is evident from the Lok Sabha poll results. For the Congress, the polls are a chance to revive the party and bounce back and if factionalism could be curbed it would help the party to perform well electorally,” he added.
