As Selja sulks over tickets, all eyes on Kharge poll rally on Monday

NEW DELHI: As speculation about the intent of Kumari Selja, who is said to be feeling marginalised ever since the Congress leadership reposed faith in her factional rival Bhupinder Singh Hooda, persisted through the day, all eyes were on Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's rally in Ambala scheduled for Monday.

Selja, who is said to be upset over the party leadership giving in to Hooda's claim of paramountcy and has kept herself aloof from the campaign for the Oct 5 polls, is the MP from neighbouring Sirsa constituency. Her presence at Kharge's rallies in Ambala and, later, Gharaunda, may help calm the anxiety in party circles over the fallout of the prominent Dalit functionary's public sulk.

Sources close to the leadership conceded that the uncertainty about Selja's intent, which has led BJP to fish in the troubled waters hoping that she might cross over, has caused wrinkles in what was expected to be a smooth campaign, and that there was a need to put up a united front.

Congress brass on Sunday chose to downplay reports of Selja staying away from the campaign scene dominated by Hooda and said she, being a "committed Congress person" would soon be campaigning energetically. There was palpable resentment against her for allowing her "ambition" to get the better of loyalty and forgetting what the party had done for her. "She had a say in selection of a dozen candidates and that was commensurate with her strength. She has to be realistic," a senior party functionary said.

Senior functionaries told TOI that to quell the perception, a rally being planned for Rahul Gandhi in Haryana will bring together all important state functionaries including Hooda and his MP son Deepender Hooda, MPs Randeep Surjewala and Selja in a show of strength.

Senior Congress functionaries claimed that the rumours around Selja were triggered by BJP camp led by former CM Manohar Lal Khattar to set a narrative against the party. On Saturday, Kharge was quoted by a TV channel as saying Selja was a senior functionary loyal to Congress and that the party did not need advice from BJP.

Khattar, a Union minister, had on Saturday asked Selja, a prominent Dalit face seen to be close to the Gandhi family, to join BJP and accused Congress of ignoring her. Haryana CM Nayab Singh Saini too had attacked Congress. When Congress released its seven guarantees for Haryana at a press conference at the party headquarters on Sep 18, neither Selja nor Surjewala were present. Haryana state unit chief Udai Bhan and Hooda were present.

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