Worship is associated with faith, says Cong candidate Selja from Haryana's Sirsa

Congress candidate from Haryana’s Sirsa parliamentary constituency, Kumari Selja, on Sunday, said, “Worship is associated with faith, and we have to worship what we believe in, for which there is no need to take a certificate either from the BJP or the RSS”.

She said those who politicise the name of Lord Ram will not be forgiven by Lord Ram himself. She said the BJP government “is diverting people's attention from real issues, but the public knows everything and will hold the BJP accountable”.

Selja was addressing a public meeting in Dabwali town. This was her first visit after becoming the candidate of the Congress (INDIA bloc) from the Sirsa seat, where she also inaugurated the election office.

Selja visited the Gurdwara Sahib and paid her respects. On this occasion, she shed light on her political life, which started from Sirsa in 1988, and reminded that the people here have always given her love, support, and affection, which led to her being elected as an MP twice and later contesting elections from Ambala, where she won twice.

She said, “Time changes and circumstances change”. Selja said, “We are fighting against forces that are against the truth. It’s not a personal fight; it’s a fight to save democracy. The farmer is demanding MSP (minimum support price), but the government has created conditions like those on the India-Pakistan border”.

“Haryana is number one in unemployment in the country, and the promise of employment for the Agniveers is a joke. The Congress has to eliminate unemployment, inflation, and corruption from this country.”

The Congress leader said the “BJP is doing the politics of religion to divert attention from real issues”.

Former Haryana Congress chief Kumari Selja has represented Sirsa and Ambala (Reserved) constituencies twice each in Lok Sabha. She also remained Rajya Sabha MP from 2014 to 2020.

Sunita Duggal, a former Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer, was the BJP’s lone woman ‘warrior’ from Haryana’s 10 parliamentary seats in 2019 and emerged the winner from Sirsa (reserved) by defeating her nearest rival, state Congress president Ashok Tanwar, with a margin of more than 300,000 votes.

Her victory gave the BJP its first win in the Sirsa seat, once the bastion of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) and the Congress.

This time Sunita Duggal was keen to contest but the BJP fielded Congress and AAP rebel, Ashok Tanwar, from Sirsa.

Interestingly, both Selja, who returns to the electoral battle in Sirsa after 26 years, and Tanwar, are former Congress presidents of the state unit and there is a straight contest between them.

Haryana will go to the polls for its 10 Lok Sabha seats on May 25.