Singh’s departure comes against the backdrop of a period of electoral stagnation for the Congress in Haryana, where he quoted the party’s failure to hold leadership accountable for persistent losses over more than a decade. He contends that the state leadership under a dominant figure created circumstances where close aides of the leadership allegedly were allowed to contest as independents to undermine official party candidates and favour money-power-backed ticket-winners.
The veteran, once aligned with the Indian National Lok Dal for 32 years and having joined Congress in 2009, said he was shifted from his stronghold assembly seat of Fatehabad to Nalwa without explanation, won the seat nonetheless but was denied ministerial or organisational responsibilities thereafter. He claimed that his affiliation with former minister Kumari Selja triggered internal hostility, and that the party’s nomination strategies ignored the competence of certain candidates in favour of those with financial resources or insider ties.
Haryana’s Congress hierarchy has, meanwhile, witnessed significant reshuffles: the appointment of former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda as leader of the Congress legislative party and the choice of Rao Narender Singh as state unit president earlier this year marked a restructuring aimed at recalibrating electoral coalitions and intra-party balance.
Analysts view Singh’s exit as more than the departure of an individual—it underscores underlying structural tensions within the party’s Haryana unit. While Singh did not explicitly name Hooda, his reference to the transformation of the state unit into a “family enterprise” and his grievance that senior leaders from Dalit and backward castes had been marginalised suggest deep factional fault-lines.
Singh noted the departure of several high-profile Congress leaders from the state over the years—including Bhajan Lal, Rao Inderjit Singh and Kuldeep Bishnoi—and said these exits reflected a broader erosion of faith among senior stalwarts that internal party democracy was being sacrificed at the altar of private interests.
Though no official comment has emerged from Hooda or the state leadership addressing Singh’s allegations, the political implications are clear: the Congress faces not only external electoral pressure from rivals such as the Bharatiya Janata Party and INLD but also internal challenges of retention, morale and candidate vetting. For Singh himself, the next step remains uncertain—nothing has been confirmed on whether he will join another party, though his attendance at recent INLD activities had already sparked speculation.