‘Why did they not let me campaign’: Selja blames Haryana Congress unit for poll debacle

According to Kumari Selja, the Haryana unit of the party failed to capitalise on the ground created by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.

A blame game began in the Congress on Tuesday after it failed in its bid to come back to power in Haryana after 10 years, with senior party leader Kumari Selja saying the party high command should assess all reasons that led to the disappointing result and identify the people responsible.

The BJP was poised to form the government for a third straight time, bucking anti-incumbency and overcoming the setback in Lok Sabha polls when its tally dropped from 10 in 2019 to five seats.

The knives were out in the Congress even before the declaration of final results, as party veteran Kumari Selja, who had been sulking during the election which was effectively led by former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, said that "it will not be business as usual" and called for introspection.

"The Haryana poll results are disappointing and I am pained at the disappointment of the Congress workers in the state who have worked very hard and were looking forward to forming their government after 10 years. It will not be business as usual in Haryana and I am sure the Congress high command would identify those who negated the efforts to bring the party to power after 10 years," she told reporters.

According  to her, the state unit of the party failed to capitalise on the ground created by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. "It is unbelievable how badly we lost,” she said.

Speaking about the factionalism within the Haryana Congress unit, Selja told Indian Express, “Then why did they not let me campaign? Why did they (the state unit) monopolise ticket distribution? Selja only kept quiet. What else could I have done? Or should I have laughed out then and there? The entire team of so-called strategists kept everything in their own hands. We (Selja, Randeep Surjewala and earlier Kiran Choudhry, before she quit Congress and joined the BJP) kept saying that the party workers were being ignored, but nothing happened. They (the party high command) called us, they heard us, we gave our choice of candidates, but they didn’t do anything. The result is here in front of everybody.”

The Sirsa Lok Sabha MP and former union minister said she was sure that the Congress high command would go into all aspects that led to such results and would identify the reasons and those responsible for bringing such results.

"I'm sure the party will look into all aspects that led to such results in Haryana," Selja said.

She referred to factors affecting the organisation like taking everyone along and ensuring coordination among all the leaders in the state.

(With PTI inputs)