Bhupinder Singh Hooda gives ultimatum for removal of unit chief

New Delhi: The Congress finds itself painted in a corner after former Haryana chief minister and Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda issued an ultimatum to the party for removing the state unit chief Ashok Tanwar.

Last Sunday, Mr Hooda held a massive rally where more than three lakh of his supporters were present in his stronghold, Rohtak. It was expected that he would announce his exit from the party. But a late-night call from a senior functionary of the AICC persuaded him to wait just a little longer. As the election season in the state is approaching, Mr Hooda is getting restless with the inactivity of the party high command. If a final decision is not taken in the next couple of days, a parting of ways will become inevitable.

At least three rounds of meetings have been concluded but the AICC is floundering.

Interestingly 13 out of 15 Congress MLAs were present at Mr Hooda’s rally, a clear indication that if he leaves, the party will be in a shambles. Mr Tanwar is the choice of former party president Rahul Gandhi as the state unit chief. Under his leadership, the party performance has been disastrous in one Assembly election and two Lok Sabha elections. In both the Lok Sabha elections, Mr Tanwar himself lost.

Sources say that the decision to replace Mr Tanwar had already been agreed to. The formula was to have a neutral person as the state unit chief while Mr Hooda would be the head of the campaign committee. The party, however, has not yet announced any decision.

In mid-2016, before the Punjab Assembly elections Amarinder Singh had also issued an ultimatum to the Congress high command to appoint him as the state unit chief and remove the then state unit chief Pratap Singh Bajwa. Initially, they resisted, but away they agreed to the change. In Haryana, time is running out for the party if they don’t decide on the leadership issue.