The Congress has pulled a rabbit out of the hat at the last minute by giving Karamvir Boudh, a Dalit, the lone Rajya Sabha ticket from its Haryana quota. The party insiders are surprised at the choice of Boudh, who is virtually unknown in the Congress circles and has no organisational experience. He neither has any Youth Congress experience nor has he risen through the ranks of the NSUI. It’s being said the Congress party members in Haryana were texting each other to find picture.
It’s learnt that he was a Haryana Government employee and was a member of a few Dalit organisations. At times, he acted as the mediator between the government and the community to resolve disputes. He was reportedly suspended from his job for four years on corruption charges. After retiring from the state government service, he joined the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and used to display a big party flag atop his house.
He subsequently joined the Congress and came in contact with K. Raju, the former IAS officer, who is the godfather of all aspiring Dalits in the party and is often credited with creating a clique of influential Dalit leaders around the party scion Rahul Gandhi. Party sources say that It was Raju who convinced Gandhi to send Boudh to the Rajya Sabha without consulting the state unit.
It seems the veteran Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda was shocked to learn about Boudh’s nomination as the party’s candidate only when the latter called him to introduce himself and solicit his support in the elections for the Upper House. Other senior party leaders in Haryana like Randeep Singh Surjewala and Selja Kumari were equally surprised to learn about Boudh’s candidature.
Boudh was employed as Superintendent of the Haryana Civil Secretariat until five years back and was in charge of the purchase department as a caretaker. His wife was employed as an assistant in the Labour Department. He retired as AGO about four years back. When Boudh was in service, he got embroiled in a controversy over corruption charges pertaining to his department. After the store that was under him got gutted in a mysterious fire, Haryana Chief Secretary suspended him and was denied any further promotion. He was contention for a party ticket from the Mulana constituency in the last Vidhan Sabha elections but failed to secure his candidature.
Raju harbours the ambition of controlling the Dalit narrative in the Congress and is against the promotion of established Dalit leaders like Uday Bhan or Ashok Tanwar. It seems Raju wants a new Dalit leader in the state whom he can control. Boudh’s choice also raises questions about Gandhi’s due diligence process: why would he throw his weight behind a man who is barely known inside the party’s state unit. Party insiders say that he has outsourced such decisions to the Organisation Secretary K.C Venugopal and a clique that has come to be known as the Jai Jagat gang.
Upset party leaders accuse the Jai Jagat gang of hijacking the Dalit agenda in the party to such an extent that they were the deciding factor in the nomination of Christopher Tilak from its Tamil Nadu quota, where the party is in alliance with the DMK. Tilak is also said to enjoy Raju’s backing.
Sensing the unease in the party, the BJP has backed an independent candidate, who enjoys a significant financial clout and is ready to buy out some Congress MLAs for cross voting.
Whatever might be result in the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections, but it seems Gandhi is reluctant to learn the lessons despite serious setbacks to the party in the recent Assembly elections. One must keep a close watch on the Haryana, as money and internal dissent over the choice of the candidate has the potential of stirring up an intriguing cocktail.
Renu Mittal
Renu Mittal is a veteran Journalist of India. She has been reporting on the Congress Party affairs since 1983.
