BJP dares Cong to name Selja as Hry CM candidate to prove SC support
Chandigarh: The Haryana unit of ruling BJP on Wednesday dared Congress to declare Kumari Selja as its chief ministerial candidate for the state Assembly polls, to prove how committed it is to the well-being of the SC community.
The state BJP also said they nominated Nayab Singh Saini, who belongs to the OBC category, a Chief Minister. Saini is also the BJP’s chief ministerial face for the upcoming Assembly elections. “The BJP has already nominated a Chief Minister from the backward class. Rahul Gandhi claims to strongly support the SC community. Let them (Congress) declare Selja ji as the chief ministerial candidate from Haryana so that one can know how much of a well-wisher of the (SC) community they are,” Haryana BJP posted on X in Hindi. Selja, who is a Lok Sabha MP from Sirsa, is a prominent Dalit face of the Congress.
Former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who is considered as Selja’s bete noire, had recently asserted that he is “neither tired, nor retired” but said the Congress high command will take a call on who would be the Chief Minister after getting a majority in the Assembly elections. Months after winning the Lok Sabha polls from Sirsa, the former Union minister Selja had also indicated her desire to contest the upcoming Assembly elections and said she wishes to work in the state but the high command will take a final call on the matter.
Speaking about selection of the chief ministerial candidate, Haryana Congress president Udai Bhan said Congress had earlier nominated leaders from the Dalit community as chief ministers in four states, including Punjab and Maharashtra.
“The BJP should tell whom they have made a CM from the SC community. Moreover, they should tell if they declared Bhajan Lal Sharma as CM candidate when they fought the last assembly elections in Rajasthan. Did they fight the polls (in MP) on Mohan Yadav’s face. In Haryana, did they fight polls in 2014 with Manohar Lal Khattar as their face?,”
Bhan asked.
