Haryana politics – Artifex.News

Frontal organisations backbone of Congress, says Dutt; issues directives for revamp in Haryana

admin — Sat, 11 Jul 2026 00:19:00 +0000

Haryana Congress party in charge Sanjay Dutt and HPCC president Rao Narender Singh participating in a meeting with frontal organisations member in Chandigarh.

Asserting that frontal organisations were the backbone of the Congress party, Haryana Congress in-charge Sanjay Dutt on Friday (July 10, 2026) laid out clear directives aimed at revitalising and strengthening all frontal organisations of the party in the State.

Mr. Dutt held a meeting with the State presidents of all frontal organisations, departments and cells of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee here, following which he issued directions to strengthen the organisation at the grassroots level. HPCC president Rao Narender Singh also participated in the meeting.

He urged the organisation to focus on issues concerning women’s rights, women’s empowerment, increasing atrocities against women, inflation, unemployment and women’s safety. “Increasing women’s participation in politics and society and fighting for their rights should remain the Mahila Congress’s highest priority,” he said.

He said ‘Seva Dal’ is the backbone of the Congress organisation, which plays a vital role in every party programme, urging the workers to make the organisation active in every village. Noting that the Indian National Trade Union Congress, affiliated with the Congress, has been working towards protecting the rights of workers and fighting against their exploitation, he directed the organisation to launch a widespread awareness campaign to strengthen the party among the labour community.

He also stressed the need to fight strongly for the rights of the Other Backward Classes, social justice, and constitutional representation, besides launching an extensive outreach campaign among Panchayat representatives and rural communities to promote the Congress Party’s policies.

“All frontal organisations and departments are the strength of the Congress Party. If every organisation works actively in its respective field, the party’s mass base and organisational structure will become even stronger. All office-bearers should remain continuously engaged with the people and raise public issues prominently,” he added.

Published – July 11, 2026 05:49 am IST

Source link

In topsy-turvy Haryana politics, Sonipat latest amphitheatre for BJP-Cong. fight

admin — Wed, 06 May 2026 19:41:00 +0000

Bharatiya Janata Party’s Rajiv Jain, the outgoing mayor of Sonipat Municipal Corporation and the party’s nominee for the May 10 mayoral poll, made an unannounced visit to Nirankari Bhawan on Railway Road on Sunday.

Skipping the usual cavalcade and crowd of supporters, Mr. Jain attended a ‘satsang (religious gathering)’ before kicking off a packed day of campaigning, with around 30 ‘nukkad sabhas (public meetings)’ planned across the municipal area till midnight.

A veteran of four decades in politics, Mr. Jain is contesting his fourth election. The husband of former Haryana Urban Local Bodies Minister Kavita Jain touched the feet of the saint before sitting with devotees on the carpet. After listening to the discourse for a few minutes, he greeted men, women and children in attendance, shook hands with the staff, and left in his car.

Relying on work

Locked in a prestige battle with Congress’s Kamal Dewan, Mr. Jain said he was relying on his public image and the work done during his nine-month stint as mayor after winning the bypoll in March last year. “I focused on laying drinking water and sewage lines and fixing the roads. A sanitation drive was held every weekend for 40 weeks. We also installed street lights in several parts of the city,” he said.

Mr. Jain said 175 development projects were inaugurated during his tenure, with work orders for 40 more in the pipeline. Congress’s Nikhil Madan, now a BJP MLA from Sonipat, had won the mayoral poll to the Sonipat Municipal Corporation in 2020. However, he joined the BJP before the 2024 Assembly poll, necessitating the by-poll to the municipal corporation, the third richest in Haryana with an annual budget of ₹625 crore and over three lakh electorate.

Having lost the by-poll to Mr. Jain with a margin of 34,749 votes last year, Mr. Dewan, renominated by his party for the election, said the circumstances were “very different” last year. “The by-poll was held soon after Congress’ defeat in the Assembly polls. Also, it was only a mayor’s election and not the entire municipal corporation and, therefore, turnout was abysmally low around 27%,” said Mr. Dewan, son of late MLA Dev Raj Dewan.

Exuding confidence

Appointed as Sonipat district president of Congress in August last year, Mr. Dewan said he stayed among the people since the last mayoral bypoll. He rejected claims by rivals that he lacked public support and said he was confident of a “resounding victory”.

“Corruption in the municipal corporation is the major issue,” Mr. Dewan said. He said the ‘safai karamcharis (sanitation workers)’ who had not been paid salaries for six months, and the fire brigade employees had pledged support to him.

With the Hooda family seen as influential in the Sonipat-Rohtak-Jhajjar belt, Congress’s Rohtak MP Deepender Hooda has completed a round of canvassing in the municipal corporation area, which encompasses four Assembly constituencies, including Gannaur, Rai and Kharkhoda. He is scheduled to address several more meetings before the polling.

The BJP has brought in north-east Delhi MP Manoj Tiwari to woo Purvanchali voters, who number around 15,000. Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini held meetings with voters across all 22 wards on Monday, and New Delhi MP Bansuri Swaraj is also expected to campaign for the party.

Punjabi factor

Mr. Jain played down the Hoodas’ influence, pointing to the 2024 Assembly results. “Four of the six Assembly seats were won by the BJP and only one by the Congress. At least Sonipat is no more a Hooda bastion,” said Mr. Jain, a former media adviser to then Chief Minister Manohar Lal from 2014-19.

Punjabis make up around 20% of the electorate in the municipal corporation area and hold the key to the election outcome, said realtor Praveen Arora.

“Though sewage and drinking water pipelines have been laid during the BJP rule, the prolonged delay in completing the work caused inconvenience to locals and made them angry,” Mr. Arora said. “Rampant corruption” in getting routine work done has also gone against the regime, he said, but the Congress nominee lacked the social connect and experience of the BJP candidate. “All said and done, the election would be decided the way the Punjabis vote,” Mr. Arora said.

Published – May 07, 2026 01:11 am IST

Source link

New Haryana Chief Minister To Prove Majority Today After BJP’s Big Shakeup

admin — Wed, 13 Mar 2024 01:56:36 +0000

The BJP and JJP had fallen out over seat sharing in the state

New Delhi/Gurugram:
As BJP broke up with its Haryana ally Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) yesterday, Manohar Lal Khattar was replaced as the Chief Minister with Nayab Saini. A floor test, – which will most likely be a routine procedure – is scheduled for 11 am.

Here are the top 10 updates on this big story

The BJP’s Nayab Singh Saini, 54, was sworn in as the new Chief Minister of Haryana at a rapidly-assembled ceremony in Chandigarh last evening hours after Mr Khattar resigned along with his cabinet ministers.
Mr Saini has claimed the support of 48 MLAs. “We have urged the governor to convene the assembly session when we will prove our majority on the floor of the House,” Mr Saini told reporters yesterday.
The BJP has got the support of six Independent MLAs, taking its figure to 47 – one over the majority mark in the 90-member Assembly. Five JJP MLAs are also expected to cross over to the BJP.
The BJP and JJP had fallen out over seat sharing in the state. While the BJP wanted to contest all 10 Lok Sabha seats, the JJP, which failed to win any in the 2019 Lok Sabha election, wanted at least two seats.
The big BJP’s shakeup comes just ahead of the Lok Sabha polls in a few weeks and the Assembly elections, which are expected in October.
Earlier on Monday, senior BJP leader Manohar Lal Khattar, and the entire cabinet – including three members of Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala’s JJP – stepped down after meeting Governor.
Sources said Mr Khattar is likely to contest the Lok Sabha elections, possibly from Kurukshetra, the seat Mr Saini is vacating.
The selection of Mr Saini – an influential Other Backward Classes leader – also represents the BJP’s focus on caste and OBC equations in each state before an election.
The JJP has now said it will contest all 10 seats on its own. Mr Chautala is expected to announce details of that campaign at a party rally this afternoon.
“I assure you that following the footsteps of Jannayak Chaudhary Devi Lal ji, I will always be dedicated to protecting the interests of Haryana and the people of Haryana. Our efforts for social and economic security of the people of Haryana will continue,” Mr Chautala said in a post on X – earlier known as Twitter.