Congress may not project CM face for Haryana polls: Party in-charge for state

Congress leader Deepak Babaria has said that the party may not project a chief ministerial face for the upcoming Haryana Assembly polls

Congress leader Deepak Babaria indicated on June 30 that the party may not project a chief ministerial face for the Haryana Assembly polls slated to be held later this year.

The Congress general secretary in-charge of Haryana exuded confidence that his party will win the polls with a big mandate and form its government in the State.

Replying to a question, Mr. Babaria hinted that the Congress may not project anyone as its chief ministerial face ahead of the election. He said this after he was told that during a meeting of the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) extended state executive at Panchkula on Saturday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the party would contest the Haryana polls alone, under the leadership of Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini.

Asked if the Congress will declare its chief ministerial face before the polls like the BJP, Mr. Babaria pointed to the party's tradition of not doing any such thing.

"The Congress party's 70-year-old tradition is that whoever is elected by the legislature party ... and 99.99 precedence is that it authorises the Congress president...," he said. He asserted that finally, the decision will be taken in accordance with the elected legislators' wish.

At the same time, Mr. Babaria also said, "It (chief ministerial face) is a major political decision. A confidentiality issue is also there, we do not want to go into its public debate."

To another related question, he said there were five contenders for the Chief Minister's post in a State election last year, but no one was projected as the chief ministerial face and the Congress still came to power in the state with an overwhelming majority.