Hooda’s housewarming a show of strength; Selja, Tanwar missing

However, the divide in the party was clearly identifiable as state Congress chief Ashok Tanwar did not show up for the ceremony. Instead, he held review meetings of the party only a small distance away at the party headquarters.

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Hooda’s another bete noire and Rajya Sabha MP Kumari Selja also gave the function a miss along with former power minister Captain Ajay Singh Yadav.

Yadav, who fell apart with Hooda before the Assembly polls, expressed his anguish over the trend of oneupmanship in the party. “This is nothing but politics. Everybody seems to be interested in self-promotion and nobody is thinking about the party. It is time to rise above our differences to work for the party,” he said.

Education Minister Ram Bilas Sharma said Hooda is still under the illusion of being chief minister. “Yeh (Hooda) abhi usi mukhyamantri pad ke nashe me hain. Par halaat badal gaye hain,” he said.

Hooda had made it clear on Saturday that he would not participate in the party meetings as he had already reviewed the situation with Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi.

Hooda’s residence had earlier been allotted to one of his confidants, M S Chopra, who too was present at Sunday’s function. Chopra was the axle of Hooda’s power wheel for the past 10 years.

The former CM posed for cameras amid selfie moments with his supporters. Everybody was seen vying for his attention. Serving bureaucrats, information commissioners and other political appointees were, however, missing from the gathering.

Sources said the tussle in the Congress was now about nomination to its executive. The party’s state and district units were dissolved before the Vidhan Sabha elections and it is still headless at the district level.