In a rare show of unity, top Haryana Congress leaders Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Kumari Selja were seen sharing the stage at a poll rally in the presence of Rahul Gandhi in Ambala on Monday. In a rare gesture, Rahul Gandhi was seen uniting both the top Congress leaders by joining their hands during the poll rally.
The two leaders, known to be heading two prominent warring factions of the Congress’ state unit, were seen standing on either side of Rahul Gandhi during the public meeting ahead of the Haryana Assembly elections.
This gesture by Rahul Gandhi is being seen as a bid by the Congress to dispel any notion of a brewing dissent within its state unit, an issue that boiled over during ticket-distribution in the state.
Earlier it was reported that Hooda, the de facto face of the Congress’ campaign in the state, had the maximum say in the allocation of tickets, cornering as many as 72 tickets for his loyalists out of the 90 candidates fielded by the party in the state.
On the other side, Selja, known as Hooda’s rival in the Congress, could manage just nine tickets for her supporters and failed to corner a ticket for her close aide Dr Ajay Chaudhary from Narnaund in Hisar district despite declaring him as the candidate on September 11.
Amid reports of being sidelined, Selja was missing from the party’s campaign in the state ahead of the Assembly polls. However, she met president Mallikarjun Kharge last Saturday who is believed to have impressed upon her to bury her misgivings and help the Congress register an emphatic win in the Haryana polls.
Ahead of the assembly polls in Haryana, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Monday assured to restore the Old Pension Scheme in the State. "We will re-implement the old pension scheme and for social security, and Rs 6000 every month will go into the bank accounts of widows, elderly people, and disabled people," Rahul Gandhi said while addressing a rally in Ambala.
He also said that farmers of Haryana will be given guaranteed MSP and that women in the Stae will be given Rs 2000 under the Mahila Shakti Yojana.
"Under the Mahila Shakti Yojana, Rs 2000 every month in the bank accounts of women will be deposited. LPG cylinders will be given for Rs 500," Gandhi said.
