Kumari Selja throws her hat in Haryana assembly poll ring
Kumari Selja, who is also AICC general secretary and Lok Sabha member from Sirsa, is planning to contest the upcoming assembly election, signalling the five-term MP's move to enter state politics when the Haryana party is fighting a crucial election amid hectic positioning by competing state Congress leaders.
«Yes, I am planning to contest the assembly election in Haryana this time. In fact, I have been preparing for it even before the Lok Sabha election.
But since the Congress persons from both Sirsa and Ambala wanted me to contest the LS poll, I contested from Sirsa, more so since it was a critical election for the nation and our party. Now, my supporters and well-wishers in the state Congress are urging me to become more active in state politics and contest the assembly election.
That is why I am considering it. The final decision, as always in the case with everyone, rests with the Congress leadership,» Selja told ET when asked about her plans for the Haryana election.
Leader of the Opposition, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, and Selja are the two top Congress leaders of Haryana, leading their two respective and often clashing groups.
While Hooda draws his support base mainly from the numerically dominant Jat community, Selja gains hers from the other significant Dalit community. In the 2019 Haryana election, where Congress gave the ruling BJP a close fight resulting in a hung verdict, AICC had managed to project a united face with Hooda as CLP leader and Selja as the PCC president but that truce proved short-lived and lately both Hooda and Selja have been carrying out their separate yatras in the state in the countdown to the assembly poll.
