Randeep Surjewala’s Rally Signals New Power Struggle In Haryana Congress

Haryana Congress is well known to have two warring factions led by former chief minister (CM) Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Lok Sabha Member (MP) Kumari Selja.

However, a third faction of Randeep Singh Surjewala seems to be emerging as the Rajya Sabha MP launched his own 'Parivartan Rally' in Haryana's Panipat this past Sunday (11 August).

Until now, Surjewala was considered a part of Selja's faction. He even featured on Selja's 'Congress Sandesh Yatra' posters along with former union minister Birender Singh.

The Selja faction is known as "SRB" (Selja, Randeep, and Birender) in Haryana politics. However, Surjewala has neither shared a poster of this yatra featuring him on his official handle nor participated in any event.

As the Congress national general secretary, Surjewala was seen as more active in national politics, with a prominent presence on the Parliament campus and raising the issue of the disqualification of wrestler Vinesh Phogat. 

He was even in Mysuru to take part in Congress 'Jana-Andolana' on 9 August. But when he returned to Haryana, instead of taking part in Selja's yatra at Narnaud in Hisar, he launched his own rally on 11 August.

Notably, Surjewala has also maintained distance from the Hooda faction, as he did not join the first meeting of the strategy committee of the Haryana Congress held on 10 August.

This meeting was chaired by Rajya Sabha MP Ajay Maken and attended by Haryana Congress president Udai Bhan from the Hooda faction and Birender Singh from the Selja faction.

Three Lok Sabha MPs from Haryana and other senior leaders were also present, but both Surjewala and Selja skipped the meeting. Defending their move, Maken said that they had pre-scheduled election programmes.

While that's true for Selja, who was at Hansi in Haryana for her 'Congress Sandesh Yatra,' Surjewala did not make a public appearance on that day. Maybe he was preparing for his 'Parivartan Rally' to be launched the next day.

In Surjewala's Panipat Rural rally, former Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Balkar Malik, who contested the 2019 assembly election from this constituency but came in fourth, was present on the stage.

This suggests that Surjewala is trying to raise his own army of workers rather than relying on existing Congress personnel. However, his recent electoral record has not been favourable for him.

Surjewala has been elected as a member of the legislative assembly (MLA) in Haryana four times, but his last electoral victory was in 2014 in Kaithal. In 2019, he lost to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) here.

Prior to this, he had come in third in the Jind bypolls held in January 2019. After the electoral losses, Surjewala was sent to the Rajya Sabha in 2022, while he maintained his presence in state politics as a part of the Selja faction.

With Selja projecting herself as the CM face, Surjewala might have distanced himself from her. But initiating a new faction of his own might not be a good decision, neither for the party nor for himself.

This is because Surjewala's two competitors, Selja and Bhupinder's son Deepender Singh Hooda, have much more electoral capital and hold on the state organisation than Surjewala.

The two leaders are also buoyed by their recent Lok Sabha victories and have a support base of their caste groups, like Dalits, who favour Selja, while Jats bank on Hoodas.

Surjewala, too, is a Jat but has not been able to woo his community voters. However, a third faction led by him will definitely be a headache for the party's high command to manage.