Tanwar to boycott Haryana Cong meet, says not joining BJP

 Former chief of Haryana Congress Ashok Tanwar has decided to boycott the party election committee meeting, scheduled here on Thursday, to decide on candidates for the Assembly elections.

An upset Tanwar, replaced by Kumari Selja as state party chief recently, told IANS here on Wednesday he would not attend the meeting called by his successor and former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda as "many" in the election committee were "against" him.

"I will not attend the meeting as many in the committee are not happy with me. They have been against me since the last five years," he said, highlighting the divisions in the party unit.

The 90-member Assembly will go to polls on October 21.

When asked whether he would be campaigning for the Congress, Tanwar said he was campaigning for the party.

However, Tanwar supporters said he was miffed at his removal from the post on September 4 and would start his parallel campaign and be working on assignments given to him.

However, the Congress leader ruled out quitting the party. "I am working for the party for the last 25 years and there is no chance of leaving the party," he said.

The Haryana Congress has received over thousand applications for party tickets. The PEC meet will filter the applications and send its recommendation to the screening committee, which will forward the names to the central election committee, headed by Sonia Gandhi, for the final decision.

The Congress is aiming to wrest power from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ruling the state for the last five years. IANS