lok-sabha-elections

Updated: Mar 21, 2019 05:29 IST

The Congress in Haryana is struggling to find candidates for the Lok Sabha elections with many senior leaders expressing unwillingness to contest possibly in the wake of the crushing defeat in the Jind bypoll, a party functionary aware of developments said.

The leaders’ reluctance to contest was evident at the first meeting of the newly formed state coordination committee, headed by former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, in Delhi on Tuesday. The meeting also exposed the fault lines in the faction-ridden party.

Congress Working Committee (CWC) member Kuldeep Bishnoi, who is upset at not being given any key responsibility in the party, skipped the meeting and senior leaders Navin Jindal, Kuldeep Sharma and Kumari Selja did not sound enthusiastic about contesting the upcoming polls, the leader quoted above said. Polling in the 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana will be held on May 12. Votes will be counted on May 23.

While Haryana Congress chief Ashok Tanwar will contest the Lok Sabha polls from Sirsa, Bhupinder Singh Hooda wants to focus on the assembly elections – scheduled in October-November this year— but would contest if asked by the party high command, the leader added.

His son, Deepender Singh Hooda, is seeking a fourth term in the Lok Sabha from Rohtak.

Bishnoi, who also skipped the March 12 CWC meeting in Ahmedabad, wants his son, Bhavya, to contest from Hissar. There are reports that he is getting feelers from the BJP and other parties.