Haryana Congress Leader Takes Aim At Hoodas, Cites Sajjan Kumar "Praise"

Fresh signs of infighting have emerged in the Haryana Congress after former Assembly Speaker Kuldeep Sharma publicly questioned senior leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda and accused a section of party leaders of sidelining him.

Sharma alleged that he was not given an opportunity to speak during a Congress protest in Panchkula. He claimed that after writing a letter against Deepender Hooda, who expressed condolences on the death of 1984 anti-Sikh riots convict Sajjan Kumar, he became the target of criticism by some Congress leaders on social media.

Deepender Hooda later walked back on his remarks, expressing regret over remarks attributed to him regarding former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar, who died at the age of 80 while serving two life sentences in connection with the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

Escalating his attack, Sharma revived the controversial G-23 episode and levelled serious allegations against former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. 

He claimed he never intended to sign any letter against Sonia Gandhi and alleged that he was asked by Bhupinder Hooda and Ghulam Nabi Azad to sign documents that were presented to him as organisational paper.

"They told me that these documents were related to the organisation. Since senior leaders had asked me to sign them, I did so," Kuldeep claimed.

The "G-23" was a group of 23 dissenters who wrote to Sonia Gandhi in 2020 urging a complete overhaul of the Congress and "clear, full-time and visible leadership". The dissenters demanded sweeping organisational changes in the Congress to arrest its leadership drift.