New Delhi: Kumari Selja’s absence from the Congress campaign in poll-bound Haryana took a dramatic turn on Saturday when former chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar invited the Sirsa MP to join the BJP. Khattar's outreach, made during a campaign rally for a BJP candidate in Gharounda, has raised political tensions in the state, where the Congress is facing internal strife and the BJP seeks to attract Dalit votes by sympathising with the sidelined Congress leader.
Selja, reportedly upset over Congress's ticket distribution, has refrained from campaigning for the past week. Khattar, stoking the issue, said Selja "deserves care and respect" and hinted that the BJP is ready to welcome her into its fold. "There is infighting in Congress, and no clarity on their chief ministerial face," Khattar said, referring to the ongoing power struggle between Bhupinder Singh Hooda and his son Deepender Hooda.
Khattar further emphasised the BJP's readiness to offer Selja a place, noting that many people upset with the Congress have already joined the BJP. When pressed by the media on whether Selja would indeed switch sides, Khattar remarked that "everything will be known at the right time."
Union law minister Arjun Ram Meghwal echoed Khattar's views, accusing the Hoodas of insulting Selja, following a viral video showing casteist remarks made by some Congress supporters from a rival faction. Though Bhupinder Hooda defended Selja as a "respected leader" and "sister" within the party, the divisions remain apparent.
Selja's absence from the Congress manifesto launch, attended by party president Mallikarjun Kharge, further highlighted the internal discord between her camp and the Hooda faction. Bhim Army chief Chandra Shekhar Azad also criticized Congress for disrespecting Selja, saying, "It's not right to sideline someone who has served the party for so long."
Azad's party, the Azad Samaj Party (ASP), is contesting the Haryana polls in alliance with Dushyant Chautala's Jannayak Janta Party (JJP), an offshoot of the INLD.