Chandigarh: Ending a 12-year wait, the Haryana Congress on Wednesday announced the appointment of 103 block presidents across 19 districts, marking the party's first such exercise since 2014. Notably, no woman has been appointed as a block president in any of the newly announced units. This stands in contrast to statements on women empowerment made by Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi during his visit to Chandigarh last year.
The list, issued by Haryana Congress chief Rao Narender Singh, covers 19 districts, while appointments for Sirsa, Jhajjar, Faridabad, and Hansi are still pending. According to sources, the appointments were based on ground reports from surveys, combined with recommendations from district presidents and prominent local leaders. HPCC president Rao Narender Singh stated on Wednesday that only workers with a good track record were given importance. Notably, Rao released the list after meeting the AICC president in New Delhi.
The Congress had dissolved all its organizational units after its poor performance in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Since then, the party fought three Assembly elections without a full-fledged grassroots organization. During this period, Ashok Tanwar, Kumari Selja, and later Udai Bhan served as Haryana Congress presidents, but none could complete the process of constituting block-level units due to differences among party leaders. Lists were prepared on several occasions but failed to secure approval from the party high command. The long-pending exercise was finally completed following the intervention of Rahul Gandhi.
This development highlights the challenges within the Haryana Congress in rebuilding its organizational structure, while the exclusion of women has drawn criticism given the party's public stance on gender equality. The remaining appointments for four districts are expected to be announced soon.
