Saying it was “unbelievable how badly we lost”, All India Congress Committee general secretary and Sirsa MP Kumari Selja told The Indian Express that the party’s Haryana wing was behind the assembly dispute, and that “the whole team of so-called strategists were keeping everything in their hands”.
“The government wing of the party has failed to monetize the foundation built by Rahul Gandhi ji. It is unbelievable how much we have lost,” he said, blaming the vote that removed Deepak Babaria, Pradesh Congress Committee president Udai Bhan, Congress Legislature Party leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda, and his son and Rohtak MP Deepender Hooda. .
Regarding the strong division in the Haryana Congress unit, which has come to light in the last three weeks, when Selja did not attend the campaign, he said, “Then why didn’t they allow me to campaign? Why did they (government agency) control the distribution of tickets? Selja kept quiet. What else could I do? Or should I have laughed then? The entire team of so-called strategists kept everything in their hands. We (Selja, Randeep Surjewala and Kiran Choudhry earlier, before he left Congress and joined BJP) kept saying that party workers were being ignored, but nothing happened. They called us (the leaders of the party, they helped us, we chose candidates, but they did nothing. The result is here in front of everyone.”
When asked if he should also bear the blame for the split in the Congress, Selja said, “It was obvious that they were not talking to me. (Babaria) has been openly saying that he does not speak to me. He was also on their side. Also, a great Dalit leader (Bhan), who was also on their side, is also missing today.”
On the things that may have led the Congress to lose, Selja, who was talking about Hooda, said, “We failed to see what people were showing us. We have only seen what shows a certain set of people. If we had taken this seriously, if we had put things right, the results would have been different today. Most of the team workers are sponsored by them (the Hoodas) and the team tickets are guaranteed. All of them turned rebels during the voting period. I mean they may not have run for election as independents or jumped to other parties, but worked as rebels in their areas.”
Babaria, Bhan, Bhupinder Hooda and Deepender Hooda have been leading the party’s campaign in Haryana. Bhupinder managed to get tickets for at least 72 people of his choice, most of whom were lost.
“The propaganda of the strategic team created and managed by these people has shown results today. No one asked Selja. No one heard me. Their surveys, their evaluations, their selection of candidates – everything went wrong. They should not have taken Haryana lightly. Even Jats voted against Congress and BJP candidates. How do you explain this now?” Selja said.
Ever since the Congress party announced its list of candidates, Selja has been absent from the campaign trail. He did not campaign for nearly two weeks and was only seen at the party’s Asandh stadium when Rahul made his first speech in Haryana on September 26. From there, he campaigned for a number of candidates before the campaign ended on October 3.
After addressing public rallies in Assandh and Barwala, Rahul also held two roadshows, about 100 km each covering more than 40 districts, and delivered his final speech in Mahendragarh on October 3 – the last day of campaigning.
Not just Selja, another party leader, Kiran Choudhry, had also accused the Hoodas of controlling and manipulating the party’s vision and strategy in Haryana. This was the main reason for Kiran and her daughter Shruti to leave the party and join the BJP. When Kiran was elected to Rajya Sabha, his daughter Shruti Choudhry won from Tosham constituency.
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