GURUGRAM: When Indian Youth Congress and National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) workers blocked Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini’s convoy and showed him black flags over Gurugram University’s infrastructure last month, the friction signalled a newly coordinated grassroots mobilisation reflecting the results of the party’s year-long Sangathan Srijan Abhiyan campaign.

However, this newfound ground momentum remains shadowed by questions being raised on appointments made on recommendations and not entirely on merit, caste equations not being taken care of, and deficit in female representation at the district level.

The August 21 arrest of eight workers and the subsequent August 25 protest led by Haryana Pradesh Congress Commitee president Rao Narender Singh directly stem from an intensive, year-long overhaul to rebuild the Haryana Congress’s grassroots organisation — a structure that had remained completely dysfunctional from the district down to the booth level for more than a decade.

The party launched the Sangathan Srijan Abhiyan a year ago to correct its course after three consecutive Assembly defeats and years of internal factionalism. To sustain this newfound momentum, the party overhauled its structure by appointing district and block presidents and forming executive committees at both levels.

Regular dialogue, feedback

The organisational overhaul is being accompanied by an attempt to bring greater accountability into the party. The leadership is seeking regular dialogue between senior leaders and grassroots workers, periodic evaluation of office-bearers’ performance and a formal system of monitoring.

“Soon after Sanjay Dutt took over as State In-charge in June, a meeting of all senior leaders from across the State — MPs, MLAs and district presidents — was called. It was followed by interaction with district executive members and active workers in each Assembly to seek their feedback under the ‘Samvad’ programme,” Haryana Congress chief told The Hindu.

The next phase is to establish mandals, each covering around 20 booths, followed by village and booth committees. The party has also revived disciplinary mechanism, constituting a disciplinary committee, and considering separate urban district presidents for Panchkula and Faridabad, besides one for the newly created Hansi district.

The outreach has covered 78 of Haryana’s 90 Assembly constituencies, he said. The party began holding block conferences in September, with Mr. Singh himself having attended five so far and Mr. Dutt four.

The party has simultaneously introduced a performance-based grading system. The heads of Sirsa, Hisar (Urban) and Faridabad are under scrutiny over their performance in the grading exercise, based on monthly reports submitted to the All-India Congress Committee. “Appointment is no longer enough. Everyone is graded on the basis of their work,” Mr. Singh said, adding with a quip that even the State in-charge’s performance is reviewed.

A fixed reporting cycle has also been introduced. Block meetings are held between the first and fifth of every month, district meetings between the fifth and tenth, followed by a State-level meeting between the 10th and 15th, generally attended by the State In-charge and other office-bearers.

Mood Upbeat

The effort has begun to change the mood among the rank and file, according to party workers.

“The mood is upbeat. It is after a gap of several years that the party’s State leadership has turned towards the grassroots workers to interact with them and seek their feedback,” said Raju Maan, national convener of the All India Kisan Congress.

Former Hisar MP Brijendra Singh said the Congress organisation was finally taking shape after 12 years, with party activities now more visible across the State and districts and the Youth Congress and NSUI being activated. However, he said the focus should go beyond creating the structure to making district president offices functional and authoritative, while ensuring coordination between district presidents and elected representatives.

Challenges persist

“The Congress’s central challenge in Haryana was to ensure that it was not seen as a party representing a particular caste. While the new organisational appointments had attempted to address the issue, more needs to be done,” said Lal Bahadur Khowal, chairman of the Haryana Congress Legal Department and a Pradesh Congress Committee delegate. He said the State leadership needed to project a united front.

“The BJP tried to polarise the previous Assembly election on the Jat and non-Jat lines and the Congress played along, causing its defeat in an otherwise winnable battle,” Mr. Khowal said.

Mr. Maan also cautioned that appointments are based on recommendations of senior leaders rather than merit, inadequate attention to social engineering at the grassroots and financial constraints still remained challenges.

For instance, Charkhi Dadri, where all four block presidents are Jats and are allegedly aligned with different senior leaders. “If appointments are made based on merit and not recommendations of senior leaders, loyalty lies with the party and not an individual leader. It ensures better coordination and strengthens the party,” he said.

The imbalance in women’s representation is another concern. Of the 33 district presidents, only one is a woman — a gap that assumes greater significance as women have emerged as an increasingly important electoral constituency being courted by all political parties.

Published – September 09, 2026 10:43 pm IST

Chandigarh:

Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini kept key departments, including home and finance, while Anil Vij got energy and transport as portfolios were allocated to the Council of Ministers on Sunday, three days after the swearing-in of a new government in the state.

Mr Saini will handle 12 portfolios. Besides home and finance, he is also in charge of planning, excise and taxation, town and country planning and urban estates, information, public relations, language and culture, criminal investigation, law and legislative, and housing for all departments.

Mr Vij, who held the home portfolio when Manohar Lal Khattar was the chief minister, has now also been given the charge of the labour department, in addition to energy and transport.

The health department, which Mr Vij handled during the Khattar government, has now been allotted to Arti Singh Rao, who will also take care of the medical education and research and Ayush departments, said a government order issued late in the night here.

Mr Saini (54) took oath as the chief minister of Haryana at a grand ceremony in Panchkula on Thursday that was attended by a galaxy of NDA leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and thousands of people from across the state.

Apart from him, 13 MLAs, including two women, took oath.

Rao Narbir Singh has been allotted industries and commerce, environment, forests and wildlife departments while Mahipal Dhanda got the school education department.

Vipul Goel has been allotted revenue and disaster management, urban local bodies and the civil aviation departments while Arvind Sharma will handle jails and cooperation portfolios.

Shyam Singh Rana will take care of the agriculture and farmers welfare department while Ranbir Gangwa will handle public health engineering. Krishan Kumar Bedi has social justice, empowerment, and SCs and BCs welfare departments while the women and child development portfolio will be handled by Shruti Choudhry.

Among other Ministers, Krishan Lal Panwar has been allocated development and panchayats, and mines and geology departments.

Minister of State (Independent Charge) Rajesh Nagar has been allocated food, civil supplies and consumer affairs while Minister of State Gaurav Gautam (Independent Charge) will handle youth empowerment and entrepreneurship, and sports departments.

The Governor of Haryana, on the advice of the chief minister, has allocated portfolios to the members of the Council of Ministers, the order said.

The BJP has won 48 out of 90 seats in the October 5 Haryana Assembly polls. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Chandigarh:

A man has been arrested for allegedly giving a “death threat” to the Haryana chief minister in a WhatsApp group in Julana, police said on Saturday.

The accused was identified as Ajmer, a native of Deverar village of Jind district.

Jind Superintendent of Police Sumit Kumar said Ajmer made a death threat on October 8, the day of vote counting in the state, in a WhatsApp group.

“As soon as the matter came to the notice of the police, an FIR was registered and Ajmer was arrested,” he said.

Congress candidate and wrestler Vinesh Phogat won the Julana assembly seat, defeating her nearest rival and BJP nominee Yogesh Kumar by a margin of 6,015 votes.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Chandigarh:

Resorting to a unique way to get connected with people at the grassroot and understand the voters’ mood, Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini on Wednesday rode a bullock cart to reach a public meeting venue during campaigning at a village in Jind’s district.

“The son of a poor farmer knows how to run the government as well as drive a bullock cart,” Saini wrote on X while sharing the video of riding the bullock cart.

गरीब किसान के बेटे सरकार भी चलाणी जाणै सैं अर बलद बग्गी भी। pic.twitter.com/L7OdcDe5DP

— Nayab Saini (@NayabSainiBJP) August 28, 2024

With state BJP President Mohan Lal Badoli sitting next to him, the Chief Minister held the rope of oxen and rode the bullock cart along with two local women.

The security of the Chief Minister was accompanying him.

“The aim of the Chief Minister to ride a bullock cart was to understand issues and problems of the commoners. He discussed at length the programme and policies of the government with the two women who were sitting beside him,” a senior BJP leader told IANS, requesting anonymity.

During the electioneering, Saini, who is leading it by travelling far and wide across the state, is listing out measures taken by the BJP government to compensate the farmers, the Dalits and the poor.

Countered the Congress’ ‘Haryana Maange Hisab’ campaign, he accused the Opposition of spreading lies.

Just two months after the parliamentary elections, politics in BJP-ruled Haryana heated with the Election Commission of India (ECI) announcing the legislative polls in a single phase for 90 Assembly seats on October 1.

The Assembly election results will be declared on October 4.

Political observers say the ruling BJP, which is confident of its return to power with a majority for the third-consecutive term under the leadership of first-time Chief Minister and Other Backward Class (OBC) leader Saini, has been facing anti-incumbency and farmers’ anger.

The BJP’s main rival, the Congress, which ruled the state for a decade till 2014, has an edge over it with the support of farmers, traders and government employees.

Senior Congress leader and two-time chief minister Bhupinder Hooda is working hard to return to power amid the party’s internal ‘war of supremacy’.

Even the AAP has launched its campaign by targeting the BJP government over the issues of unemployment, law and order and the Agnipath scheme.

Contesting solo on all seats, the party launched the ‘Kejriwal Ki 5 Guarantee’ campaign, promising free electricity, free medical treatment, free education, Rs 1,000 per month to every woman and employment for the youth.

In October 2019, the BJP, which won 40 seats and was six short of a majority in the 90-member Assembly, formed the government in alliance with the then newly-formed Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) led by Dushyant Chautala, who was Khattar’s deputy in the government.

Political observers told IANS that Saini’s elevation to the top post is intended to consolidate the non-Jat and OBC votes.

Also, it is an attempt to counter anti-incumbency against Manohar Lal Khattar, who had been at the helm from 2014 to March 2024.

In the caste politics of Haryana, the Jat support is largely divided among the Congress, JJP and Indian National Lok Dal (INLD).

Significantly, the Jats are a landowning community that accounts for around 25 per cent of the state’s population.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah has announced that the BJP will go solo in the Assembly elections under CM Saini’s leadership.

In Haryana, OBCs account for about 30 per cent of votes, followed by Jats 25 per cent and the Scheduled Castes (SCs) about 20 per cent.

In the just-concluded Lok Sabha polls, the Congress has won three Jat-dominated constituencies, (Rohtak by Deepender Hooda, Sonipat by Satpal Brahmchari and Hisar by Jai Prakash), where farmers largely played a crucial role in its victory.

The Congress has also won both the SC-reserved constituencies (Sirsa by Kumari Selja and Ambala by Varun Chaudhary).

The Congress is trying to woo the Jats and Dalits with Hooda as the tallest Jat leader and his loyalist Udai Bhan, the state Congress President, a Dalit.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Haryana’s new Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini said they have presented a letter of support of 48 MLAs to the governor and asked him to convene an assembly session on Wednesday so that the BJP government can prove its majority in the House.

Mr Saini took oath as chief minister on Tuesday hours after the surprise resignation of Manohar Lal Khattar from the post along with his cabinet ministers.

“We have urged the governor to convene the assembly session tomorrow when we will prove our majority on the floor of the House,” Saini told reporters here after assuming charge and holding a meeting of his cabinet.

When asked how many MLAs are in support of the government, Saini, who is also Haryana BJP chief, said, “We gave a letter of support of 48 MLAs to the governor.” 

In the 90-member state assembly, the BJP has 41 members, and it also enjoys support of six of the seven independents as well as of lone Haryana Lokhit Party MLA Gopal Kanda. The JJP has 10 MLAs in the House.

The main opposition Congress has 30 MLAs while the Indian National Lok Dal has one.

Amid differences over seat sharing for the Lok Sabha polls, the BJP’s alliance with the JJP has virtually come apart.

Mr Saini said that in the cabinet meeting, a resolution was adopted to thank the works done by the outgoing Khattar cabinet.

“During the past nine-and-a-half years, he (Khattar) gave new direction to Haryana, presented example of good governance. ‘Haryana Ek Haryanvi Ek’ was not a mere slogan, but equitable development was carried out. We have worked without discrimination in the spirit of Antyodaya,” Mr Saini said.

The Khattar government has scripted history in many spheres be it online transfer policy of teachers or giving jobs on merit, he said.

Mr Saini also thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP chief J P Nadda, Union Home Minister Amit Shah as the party gave new responsibility to him.

“The new responsibility has been entrusted on me…we will work with full dedication and deliver on the expectations of people,” he said.

He also said challenges come with responsibility and he is ready to face them.

Five MLAs — four from the BJP and one independent — were also sworn in as ministers. However, former home minister and six-term MLA from Ambala Cantt, Anil Vij, has not found a place in the new cabinet.

Mr Saini, the 54-year-old OBC leader, was administered oath by Governor Bandaru Dattatreya at the oath-taking ceremony held at the Raj Bhawan here.

Earlier in the day, Khattar and all 13 other members of the BJP-led council of ministers submitted their resignations to the governor as a team of the party’s central observers arrived in Chandigarh.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Chandigarh:
Hours after Manohar Lal Khattar’s resignation as Haryana Chief Minister, the BJP announced Nayab Singh Saini as its choice for the top post.

Here are 5 Facts About the New Haryana Chief Minister