Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda. File.
| Photo Credit: PTI

All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary for Haryana, B.K. Hariprasad, on Wednesday presided over a meeting of party MLAs and other senior leaders from the State to chart the future course of action for the party.

However, with the Budget session of the Haryana Assembly scheduled to begin on March 7, several MLAs are said to have pointed out the absence of the Leader of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP), who also functions as the Leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly.

Although a team of observers, comprising of senior Congress leaders Ashok Gehlot, Partap Singh Bajwa, and Ajay Maken, has submitted their report to the high command, the party has not yet named the CLP leader five months after the Assembly election results because of intense factionalism between the supporters of former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, and those aligned with his detractors.

Senior leader Captain Ajay Singh Yadav, former head of the AICC Other Backward Classes (OBC) department, demanded that a new CLP leader and a new State president be appointed at the earliest.

“The State president should be someone who is loyal to the party and toes the party line and not that of a particular leader to whom he owes his allegiance,” Mr. Yadav told reporters after the meeting.

His attack was directed at Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Uday Bhan, who is considered to be a close associate of Mr. Hooda.

Several leaders demanded that the organisation should be strengthened at the district-level and the grassroots- level following the recent poll debacle.

Top party leaders from the State, including Mr. Hooda, Mr. Bhan, and senior leaders Randeep Surjewala, Kumari Selja, and Deepinder Hooda, attended the meeting.

Officially, the agenda was to plan the party’s ‘Jai Bhim, Jai Samvidhan’ yatra in the State, but suggestions to strengthen the party were also sought during the meeting.

“In this meeting, everyone gave their suggestions, and with these suggestions, we will work to strengthen the organisation in Haryana. All our senior leaders were present and gave their suggestions, and we all will strengthen the organisation at the district- and State-level,” Mr. Hariprasad said.