CHANDIGARH: With the Lok Sabha elections over and state elections underway, the Haryana Congress faction of Bhupinder Hooda and the BSRK faction (Virender Singh, Selja, Randeep Surjewala and Kiran Choudhury) are once again locked in a fierce contest. Led by Haryana Assembly Speaker Uday Bhan, the Hooda faction, which has over 18 key legislators and four MPs, is set to hold its first post-election workers’ rally in Karnal on Sunday. Meanwhile, the BSRK faction is set to hold its own workers’ rally in Old Hisar district, which includes Jind, Sirsa, Fatehabad, Hisar and Bhiwani. On Saturday, former Union minister Virender Singh, Congressman Selja and Senator Randeep Surjewala held meetings in Fatehabad and Narwana respectively. In Narwana, they faced off against their rival factions within the Indian National Congress along with the state government of Nayab Singh Saini’s Bharatiya Janata Party. Selja and Virender welcomed the BJP activists and urged them to try again in October to topple the Bharatiya Janata Party government in Haryana. The two simultaneous meetings were not included in Hooda’s month-long schedule, which was shared with party workers earlier this week. The state BJP has scheduled separate meetings in each district till July 14. Beyond the schedule, the conflict has also escalated into personal attacks between the state and parliamentary members. Kiran Chowdhury’s state party president Uday Bhan had advised her to speak to the higher-ups. Following an attack from Mahendragarh MP Rao Dhan Singh, who lost from the Bhiwani-Mahendargarh constituency in the Indian Lok Sabha, Kiran Chowdhury opened a new chapter by blaming him for the defeat. Dhan Singh accused her of campaigning passively in Tosham Assembly constituency, but she denied the accusation on Saturday, asking Dhan Singh to verify the votes he got from Mahendragarh constituency and the constituency he represents in the Assembly. “He could not save his constituency, but Shruti Choudhury (her daughter) has never lost in Mahendragarh. We have evidence but convention forces us to remain silent,” she said. Uday Bhan ignored these parallel rallies of the BSRK group, saying, “They are also working for the party and we are getting votes so there is no problem.” Personal attacks seem to be on the rise within the BJP. Mohan Lal Badri has slammed top leaders, while Ranjit Chautala has slammed Kuldeep Bishnoi and Subhash Bharara.
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