Congress on Wednesday appointed Udai Bhan, who is said to be close to former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, as its new Haryana unit chief, while also naming four Working Presidents.
The decision comes after hectic parleys between Congress and Hooda and finally Hooda had his way in the appointment. Now, both the CLP and state President's post have gone to the Hooda's camp.
Though Udai Bhan is also a Scheduled Caste as outgoing state President Kumari Selja but the party has tried to strike balance between various communities, especially the Jats, it has appointed former MP Shruti Chaudhary, who is from the Jat community, as one of the Working Presidents. The others are Ram Kishan Gujjar, Suresh Gupta, and Jitendra Kumar Bhardwaj.
In Haryana, the Congress was witnessing an internal rift and as a result, the district committees were not formed. Ahead of its internal elections, the party wants to put its house in order.
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The Congress was in a huddle over streamlining its Haryana unit where the party has plenty of claimants for the top post in the state. Hooda, a two-time Chief Minister, was pushing for a change in the state set up and has been meeting party leaders including Rahul Gandhi.
In the 2019 state Assembly elections, the BJP emerged as the single largest party with 40 seats in the 90-member House, while Congress got 31 seats. Dushyant Chautala-led Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) got 10 seats, and allied with the BJP to form the government.
