Old guard re-emerges as powerful force in Congress

Early counting trends for the 90-member Haryana Assembly are showing that the Congress old guard were correct in choosing Bhupinder Singh Hooda to lead the party in the state.

The grand old party has proved all exit polls wrong by catapulting itself close to the magic figure.

The old guard that includes Ghulam Nabi Azad and Ahmed Patel had major roles in selection of the new party setup in Haryana. Both Hooda and state unit President Kumari Selja are close to Ahmed Patel.

Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi's appointee Ashok Tanwar has left the party, while another close aide of the former, Nana Patole, is trailing in Maharashtra.

In Maharashtra too, the party replaced former Chief Minister Ashok Chavan at the helm with Balasaheb Thorat.

In the Mumbai unit, the party appointed Eknath Gaikwad as the acting president after Milind Deora resigned from the post following the Lok Sabha poll debacle.

These moves appear to indicate that the Congress is returning to the Sonia era. While the choice of the younger lot for Delhi Congress chief was either Alka Lamba or Kirti Azad, the party appointed veteran Subhash Chopra to the post.

The dissolution of the Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) on Wednesday also speaks of the old guard having its way in key decisions.
IANS