Congress names Kumari Selja Haryana unit chief, Hooda a CLP leader

Ahead of assembly polls in Haryana, the Congress on Wednesday named Kumari Selja Haryana unit chief while former state chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda was appointed Congress Legislative Party (CLP) leader.

Hooda will also be chairman of the election management committee, Congress general secretary in-charge Haryana Ghulam Nabi Azad announced.

Selja replaces Ashok Tanwar as the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee chief.

The move comes after days of deliberations by party president Sonia Gandhi and is seen as an attempt to pacify different factions ahead of the polls, likely to take place next month.

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