Sonia okays poll, campaign panels for Haryana elections

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Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi

New Delhi,  Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday approved a 28-member election committee and 50-member campaign committee for the party’s Haryana unit, ahead of the state assembly polls due later this year.

The election panel has top Congress leaders — former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, former state unit chief Ashok Tanwar, party’s national spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala — as members.

Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Kiran Chaudhary, Kuldeep Bishnoi, Captain Ajay Yadav, H.S. Chatta, Phoolchand Mallana and Mahendra Pratap Singh are also part of the committee, AICC general secretary K. C. Venugopal said.

The Congress is looking for a comeback in Haryana elections and seeks to oust the ruling BJP which has been in power for the last five years.

The presidents of the Youth Congress, the NSUI and the Seva Dal have also been included in the election panel.

Meanwhile, the campaign committee will be headed by Captain Ajay Yadav with Dilu Ram Bazigar as its convenor. The committee includes former Union minister and state unit chief Kumari Selja, Hooda, Chaudhary, Tanwar, Surjewala, Bishnoi, former MP Deepender Singh Hooda and many others.

In 2014, the BJP improved its 2009 tally from 4 to 47, followed by the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) with 19 legislators and the Congress, which came third with 15 seats. Two seats went to the Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC), and one each to the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). Five Independents were also elected.