Cong's new state chief may be from south Hry

The Congress is preparing to appoint a new Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) president likely from southern Haryana, leaders aware of developments said on Wednesday.

- Leena Dhankhar

The position - which has remained vacant since 1977 — has not been occupied by a leader from southern Haryana since 1972, when Rao Nihal Singh was in charge. Singh was the last state Congress chief from southern Haryana.

Party insiders say the absence of representation has steadily weakened the organisation in the southern region's Ahirwal belt, dominated by other backward classes (OBC), where the Congress lost 10 of Il assembly seats on way to its shock loss to the Bharatiya Janata Party in the state polls last year.