Kumari Selja meets Sonia Gandhi, offers to quit as Haryana PCC chief

Senior Congress leader Kumari Selja has met party chief Sonia Gandhi and offered to quit as president of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC), it is reliably learnt. The move coincides with the Congress high command, as ET reported on Saturday, coming under intense pressure mounted by senior leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who wants the Gandhi-Vadra leadership to convince Selja to make way for him or his nominees, preferably his son Deepender, as his way of wresting control of the state Congress.

The fact that Hooda is a prominent leader of the Congress change-seekers’ group, which has upped the ante post the Congress’ assembly poll debacle demanding “collective leadership” in the Congress, appears to have added to the pressure on the Gandhi-Vadra led high command.

There is no official word, till the time of going to press, from the Congress leadership about the senior woman, Dalit leader offering to quit as PCC chief or the leadership accepting it. But, two AICC functionaries aware of the development confirmed to ET that the Haryana PCC chief did offer to quit during an unpublicised meeting she held with Gandhi on Saturday. Selja was not available when ET tried to contact her and her staff said she was out of town.

Given the fact that “party loyalist” Selja who, unlike other internal rivals of Hooda has been frontally resisting the entrenched Jat leader’s 24X7 push for supremacy, has influence on the ground, especially among the numerically significant Dalit and women segments of Haryana, it remains to be seen how the leadership will try to placate/accommodate her in a leadership role.

Selja’s move to quit coincides with BSP chief Mayawati questioning the Congress leadership’s commitment to Dalits, besides the glaring backdrop of many Punjab Congress leaders actively and publicly bickering with the much publicised (former) ‘Dalit CM Channi’ adding to the high command’s sensitivity in the matter. Selja had reportedly complained at a recent meeting which was also attended by Rahul Gandhi that the leadership, in the wake of opposition from Hooda camp, had failed to empower her with the PCC/ DCC committees despite projecting her as a “Dalit, woman PCC chief”.

ET had reported that the Congress chief’s emissaries had reached out to the main stakeholders in the Haryana Congress over the last couple of days seeking a settlement on the leadership issue after Hooda and supporters intensified the pressure by reporting a parallel show of strength of his supporting MLAs besides staying away from the Congress agitation against fuel price on Thursday.

Along with the Hoodas, AICC general secretary Randeep Surjewala is also an aspirant for the PCC post. Hooda senior is reportedly ready to make way for ‘convenient’ non-Jat nominees as Leader of the opposition in the Haryana Assembly once he wrests the control of the PCC.