Wrestler and Congress leader Bajrang Punia being felicitated by Punjab party MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira and party leader Birender Singh after assuming the role of Kissan Congress Working President, at party Headquarters in New Delhi on October 22, 2024. | Photo Credit: ANI

Political signals are conveyed subtly as Bajrang Punia becomes head of Kisan Congress

Congress leader Kumari Selja avoided speaking about elections and trained her guns at the BJP for ‘ignoring the interests of farmers and agricultural labourers’

by · The Hindu

The formal event at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) headquarters to mark Bajrang Punia’s appointment as working chairperson of the Kisan Congress revealed subtle, political hints on Haryana’s leadership tussle. While Lok Sabha MP Kumari Selja and Birender Singh were present, former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, and his son and Lok Sabha MP Deepender Hooda, were absent.

In the faction-ridden Haryana Congress, both Ms. Selja and Mr. Singh are well-known rivals of the Hoodas. The leadership tussle between Ms. Selja and Mr. Hooda dominated the headlines during the recently concluded Haryana elections, with Ms. Selja’s supporters accusing the Hoodas of sidelining her.

The Congress high command was accused of solely projecting the Hoodas at the cost of ignoring senior leaders. Many argued that this helped the non-Jat votes in the State consolidate in favour of the BJP.

However, on Tuesday (October 22, 2024), Ms. Selja avoided speaking about the elections and trained her guns at the BJP for “ignoring the interests of farmers and agricultural labourers”.

“If the country is to move forward, farmers and agricultural labourers of the country must also be advanced, and their interests protected,” she said.

Apart from Mr. Punia, newly elected MLA from Julana, the celebrated wrestler Vinesh Phogat, and president of the All India Kisan Congress Sukhpial Singh Khaira, was also present.

Both Ms. Phogat and Mr. Punia are known to be close to Hooda junior, who is believed to have inducted them into the party.

Ms. Selja said the grain markets in Haryana and Punjab were in disarray, farmers were troubled, and while crops were not being sold, farmers were struggling for fertilizers. “The BJP government’s actions did not match its words,” she said.

Published - October 22, 2024 09:59 pm IST