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Time running out for Congress old guard: Assembly polls in Haryana, Jharkhand and Maharashtra near

If insiders are to be believed, the party may not use Mr Gandhi extensively in these polls

New Delhi: The old guard in the Congress is not in demand for campaigning in the Haryana, Maharashtra and Jharkhand Assembly polls against the BJP at a time when its next generation is yet to emerge as a vote-catcher.

These elections would be crucial for the Congress and the BJP. If the Congress has been in power in Haryana (10 years) and Maharashtra (15 years), or sharing it with regional players in Jharkhand, this is the first electoral battle of the BJP after its historic victory in the Lok Sabha elections. It would prove whether the BJP wave still persists or would be hit by a division of votes.

The Congress had earlier relied on its vice-president Rahul Gandhi. But if insiders are to be believed, the party may not use Mr Gandhi extensively in these polls for the simple reason that its defeat could damage his image further.

Former PM Manmohan Singh, A.K. Antony, S.M. Krishna, Oscar Fernandes, Karan Singh, M.L. Fotedar and R.K. Dhawan were never in demand, while Ghulam Nabi Azad, P. Chidambaram and Digvijay Singh campaigned for the party, but are not crowd-pullers or fiery orators like BJP’s Sushma Swaraj, RJD’s Lalu Prasad Yadav or AAP’s Arvind Kejriwal. Among the CMs Oommen Chandy, Prithviraj Chavan, Siddaramaiah, Virbhadra Singh and Harish Rawat have limitations. Salman Khurshid and Kapil Sibal are back in their professions while Jairam Ramesh is concentrating more on writing in newspapers.

Therefore, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Mr Chavan will be the Congress faces in Haryana and Maharashtra, respectively. They may request Dr Manmohan Singh and Mr Chidambaram to address a select gathering in Mumbai.

( Source : dc correspondent )
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