The Congress’s long wait for appointment of a Leader of the Opposition in Haryana finally ended Monday. However, its troubles haven’t.
Its decision to pick former three-time MLA and ex-minister Rao Narender Singh as the Haryana Congress chief has not only ruffled feathers within the party but also brought the alleged Cash-for-Land Use (CLU) scam back into the spotlight.
Hailing from Narnaul in Mahendragarh district, the 62-year-old Singh has over two decades of political experience. He served as the Congress MLA from Ateli between 1996 and 2005 before switching to the Bhajan Lal-led Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) in 2009.
Months after unsuccessfully contesting the Bhiwani-Mahendragarh Lok Sabha seat on an HJC ticket in 2009, Singh won the Narnaul Assembly seat. He was among the five HJC legislators who expressed interest in merging the party with the Congress, which at the time fell six short of the majority mark.
Singh entered the Bhupinder Singh Hooda Cabinet in 2011 and was allotted the key portfolio of Health and Medical Education, a post he held until 2014.
Controversy, however, caught up with him in November 2013, when Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) leader Abhay Chautala released a CD purportedly showing Singh discussing a payment of ₹30–50 crore with a journalist and another man, allegedly in exchange for a CLU for a 30-acre plot in Gurugram.
Denying the charges, Singh claimed he was “just helping a friend”. “What else are you supposed to say if somebody comes to you as a friend? If someone comes to you with some papers, you will discuss and say you will help. That is what I did. It is unfortunate if somebody wrongly interprets the matter,” he had said at the time.
The issue further blew up later in 2013 after the INLD released another CD which showed a few Haryana MLAs allegedly demanding cash in exchange for CLUs.
The alleged CLU scam seemingly dented Singh’s image as he lost the Narnaul seat 2014 and 2019 Assembly polls. Last year too, he finished runner-up, losing the seat to the BJP’s Jahanzaib Hussain by over 17,000 votes.
Trouble mounted further after the BJP came to power in 2014, with Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar’s government acting on then Haryana Lokayukta Justice Pritam Pal’s order for a probe. The investigation, led by then ADGP V Kamaraja, found the CDs authentic. In December 2015, an FIR was registered, and Singh was booked the following month under the Prevention of Corruption Act. The case is still pending before the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
The INLD, which “exposed” the alleged CLU scam, was quick to react to Singh’s appointment, with party leaders, led by Rampal Majra, late Monday flaying the Congress for appointing a “tainted” leader as its state chief. “The Congress should have waited for the court to clear him of the charges before making him the state president,” Majra said.
Even as Hooda congratulated Singh, a section of Congress leaders too did not take kindly to Singh’s elevation. “Given the continuously declining graph of the Congress in Haryana, the party needs to introspect regarding the decision taken today. (Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha) Rahul Gandhi ji’s wish was that the president of the Haryana Congress be a person whose image is completely clean, spotless, and representative of young leadership. However, today’s decision appears to be exactly the opposite of this. Because of this, the morale of the party workers and cadre has completely fallen,” former Congress MLA Captain Ajay Singh Yadav said in a post on X on Monday while tagging Gandhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and AICC Haryana in-charge B K Hariprasad.
Even as this left unease in the state Congress, Singh has tried to start on a peaceful note. Soon after his appointment, he met Hooda and Rajya Sabha MP Randeep Surjewala, seen as leaders of different factions, in Delhi. “I will take everybody along and everybody in the Congress will work together to strengthen the party. Yadav has always been and will remain my elder brother. I respect all leaders and workers,” he said following the meeting.