Haryana elections: 3 INLD leaders and one independent MLA join Congress

Chandigarh, Sep 15: With Haryana Assembly polls round the corner, three Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) leaders and one Haryana independent MLA Jai Prakash on Sunday joined the Congress.

Haryana Congress chief Kumari Selja, chairperson of the election management committee Bhupinder Singh Hooda and AICC general secretary state in-charge Ghulam Nabi Azad were present at the event in which INLD leaders Ashok Arora, Subhash Goyal, Pradeep Chaudhary, Gaganjit Sandhu and Haryana independent MLA Jai Prakash joined the party.

In the 2014 Haryana Assembly polls, the BJP won 47 seats and went on to form its government. The Congress could only win 15 seats in the 90-member Assembly. The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) had 19 legislators. Since then, the INLD has split into two factions.

Political parties are gearing up for the upcoming three state elections with the Election Commission (EC) expected to announce poll dates in these states, likely to be held in November.

Elections in Maharashtra, Haryana and Jharkhand will be interesting as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would be looking to retain power in these states after the massively successful Lok Sabha elections.

Congress on Saturday formed a six-member screening committee for Haryana Assembly elections, with senior party leader Madhusudan Mistry as its chairman. Other members of the panel appointed by Congress president Sonia Gandhi include Haryana Congress chief Kumari Selja, Congress legislative party leader and former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and AICC general secretary state in-charge Ghulam Nabi Azad.

Congress leaders Deepa Dasmunsi and Devender Yadav have also been made members of the panel.

Assembly elections in the state are slated for later this year and the Congress is seeking to wrest back power from the BJP.

The appointments come about 10 days after the Congress named Selja chief of its Haryana unit and appointed Hooda chairperson of the election management committee.

Sonia Gandhi had also appointed Hooda as Congress Legislative Party (CLP) leader, and by virtue of that, leader of opposition in the state Assembly.