Can Congress's Haryana revamp serve as its template for other states?

India Today

5 days ago

After years of organisational drift, the Congress in Haryana is attempting a structural reset that could determine whether it remains electorally relevant in the state.As part of its 'Sangathan Srijan Abhiyan' (Organisational Rejuvenation Campaign), the party is set to appoint a new crop of District Congress Committee (DCC) presidents across Haryana—for the first time through a semi-democratic, consultative process.The high command is expected to finalise and announce the new district chiefs by the end of July. According to B.K. Hariprasad, AICC general secretary in charge of Haryana, the party has received feedback from all districts. 'Some districts sent two to three names, others five to six. The observers have done interviews, and deliberations are on,' he said.advertisementThe eligibility criteria for DCC presidents include at least five years of party work and being in the age group of 35-55. However, caste representation and district-level political suitability will also play a decisive role.
Party insiders say the AICC observers—appointed in coordination with the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC)—conducted extensive interviews with shortlisted candidates, assessing their ideological alignment, ability to counter the BJP-RSS narrative and potential to unify faction-ridden local units. Special emphasis was laid on including women, minorities and grassroots organisers with credibility beyond the party structure.In the first week of June, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi made a brief visit to the Haryana Congress headquarters in Chandigarh to convene a meeting of a 17-member committee, comprising senior state leaders and AICC officials. Among them were former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Haryana PCC chief Uday Bhan, Lok Sabha MP Kumari Selja, former Union minister Birender Singh, and Rohtak MP Deepender Hooda.Rahul reportedly urged them to rein in factionalism. Subsequently, the AICC appointed 22 observers, including MPs and former ministers, to work alongside the 51 Haryana PCC-appointed observers to assess aspirants across districts.This marks the first time in over a decade that the Congress is methodically rebuilding its organisational pyramid in Haryana. Earlier attempts floundered. When Rahul loyalist Ashok Tanwar was the state unit chief, the Hooda camp resisted; when Kumari Selja and later Uday Bhan took charge, factionalism continued to plague the process. The 2024 assembly polls exposed the underbelly of a defunct organisation, with the BJP managing an improbable win—securing 48 seats in the 90-member assembly.Hence, the overhaul was inevitable. In the past, appointments were largely top-down—decided by the state Congress president in consultation with the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader. This time, however, the exercise carries the imprint of Rahul's push for internal reform, catalysed by his visit to Chandigarh after the party's electoral setback.The Congress appears to be adopting a hybrid model—partly democratic, partly high command-driven. It resembles the BJP's older practice of appointing district presidents based on ground-level feedback from RSS-aligned workers but retains Congress's penchant for top-down endorsement. Whether this becomes a durable template remains to be seen.advertisementNotably, the Congress is rolling out similar Sangathan Srijan Abhiyan exercises in Gujarat, Odisha, Himachal Pradesh and other states where the party faces organisational atrophy but harbours electoral ambition. Haryana, with its history of alternating governments and caste-based polarisation, could serve as a pilot model for this new approach to internal reorganisation.Beneath the surface of this rejuvenation effort, however, lies an unspoken tension: the Congress high command's unease with Bhupinder Hooda's continuing dominance in Haryana. His loyalists currently account for 32 of the party MLAs and four of its five Lok Sabha MPs. PCC chief Uday Bhan is also from the Hooda camp. Yet, the high command has conspicuously left the CLP leadership post vacant, refusing to officially confirm Hooda as its leader.There is growing apprehension in Delhi that Hooda may continue to treat the Haryana unit as a political fiefdom, restricting the rise of new voices and alternative power centres. The central leadership is wary—its unplanned removal of Captain Amarinder Singh as Punjab chief minister in 2021 led to a party collapse and paved the way for the Aam Aadmi Party's rise.The aftershocks of that misstep echoed in Rajasthan (where Ashok Gehlot resisted pressure), Chhattisgarh (with Bhupesh Baghel's dominance), and now Karnataka, where balancing Siddaramaiah's influence remains a challenge.advertisementIn this context, the Haryana reboot is being viewed as a test case of whether the Congress high command can assert itself without alienating powerful regional satraps. Political observers in the state are watching closely: will the new DCC appointments reflect Hooda's continued influence or signal a shift toward a broader, more inclusive mandate from Delhi? Once the list is made public, it will serve as a litmus test for assessing the strength of the Hooda camp in the restructured party.Importantly, the new DCC chiefs are not just symbolic. According to party sources, they will have the power to recommend election candidates—though they themselves must resign from their DCC posts at least 18 months prior if they wish to contest. This makes them pivotal figures in candidate selection and grassroots mobilisation for the Lok Sabha and assembly elections in 2029.And yet, scepticism persists. 'This looks good on paper, but we don't yet know whether the final list will reflect ground realities or be reduced to political tokenism. If Delhi imposes names without genuine local consultation, it could backfire,' a senior Congress leader from Haryana said.advertisementThe once-formidable BJP-JJP (Jannayak Janta Party) combine is now history. The BJP contested and won the 2024 Lok Sabha and assembly elections on its own. In a bid to revive their fortunes, the Dushayant Chautala-led JJP and uncle Abhay Chautala-led Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) are looking at how Congress deals with an ageing Hooda, 77. The Chautala family competes with Hooda for the dominance of Jat voters. This bloc could easily shift towards them if the Congress doesn't plan the transition well.It is perceived that the BJP's Nayab Saini government takes cues from Saini's political guru and predecessor Manohar Lal Khattar and that decision-making is dominated by a group of bureaucrats. Thus the Congress senses an opening.But unless the new DCC chiefs can overcome the legacy of internal sabotage, caste tokenism and organisational apathy, they may end up as placeholders rather than powerbrokers. For the Congress to mount a credible challenge in 2029, these appointments must go beyond symbolism. The Congress's future in Haryana may hinge on whether this quiet overhaul results in genuine grassroots mobilisation or fizzles out as yet another aborted experiment in party-building.Subscribe to India Today Magazine- Ends
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