New Delhi, Jul 11 (IANS): The Haryana Youth Congress elections have become a prestige issue with senior politicians backing candidates of their choice.
Haryana Youth Congress elections have become a show of strength for the factions - namely Hooda, Selja and other leaders backing their candidates.
There are a total of 12 candidates in the state president elections, out of which only 2 are women and membership and voting will continue online for one month.
According to sources, four candidates are contesting in which Deepender Hooda-Kiran Choudhary-Captain Ajay Singh Yadav are supporting 2 candidates namely former NSUI state president Divyanshu Budhiraja and a woman named Parag Sharma.
State President Kumari Selja has put the entire system behind former Youth Congress National Secretary Krishna Satrod who also has the support of the Randeep Singh Surjewala group. Former Youth Congress state general secretary Shantanu Chauhan is contesting elections independently without the support of any state leader.
The remaining eight candidates are associated with either of the factions and their fight is limited only to cutting votes and becoming state secretary by polling in minimum votes required.
Previous Haryana Youth Congress elections have always witnessed Hooda-backed candidate being elected as the State President.
What remains to be seen is whether Haryana Youth Congress also succumbs to the ongoing rivalry by electing a Hooda or Selja group-backed candidate or will it see the victory of Rahul Gandhi's dream to bring in fresh talent.
Rahul Gandhi had initiated the Youth Congress elections to give a platform to the youth without political background, money and muscle power to join politics. But despite his efforts, no senior leadership in any state pursued his idea.
After witnessing factionalism and political oneupmanship in the recent Youth Congress elections in Delhi and Mumbai, difficulties for the Congress high command don't seem to be ending in the near future. A similar story has begun in Haryana, which has further intensified the political rivalries and rifts in the party appear to be deepening.