By Kavita Mistry 
Gurugram: After a long wait, the All India Congress Committee (AICC) Monday appointed former state minister Rao Narender Singh as president of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) and former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda as leader of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) in the Haryana Assembly with immediate effect.
Being the leader of the single largest opposition party in the assembly, Hooda will once again assume the role of Leader of the Opposition, a role he had from 2019 to 2024.
The appointments were announced in a press statement issued by Congress general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal. “Hon’ble Congress president has appointed Shri Rao Narender Singh as the president of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee, with immediate effect,” it read.
The statement also noted Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s approval of the proposal to appoint Hooda as CLP leader. Hooda posted a picture of himself with Rao Narender Singh on X, congratulating the latter and thanking outgoing HPCC president Udai Bhan.
कांग्रेस हाईकमान द्वारा पूर्व मंत्री और विधानसभा में मेरे साथी रहे @RaoNarenderS जी को हरियाणा कांग्रेस का प्रदेश अध्यक्ष बनाए जाने पर हार्दिक बधाई एवं शुभकामनाएं।
हमें विश्वास है आपके नेतृत्व में संगठन और मजबूती व नयी दिशा पाएगा।
निवर्तमान अध्यक्ष @INCUdaiBhan जी का धन्यवाद। pic.twitter.com/pc0uQcc856
— Bhupinder Singh Hooda (@BhupinderShooda) September 29, 2025
The AICC, too, acknowledged the contributions of the outgoing PCC president Udai Bhan.
The appointments came almost a year after the 2024 assembly elections in Haryana where the Congress fell short of returning to power, despite poll predictions hinting at a favourable outcome.
The new state Congress chief, Rao Narender Singh (62), served as health minister in Hooda’s government from 2009 to 2014. He was elected to the Haryana Vidhan Sabha in 2009 from Narnaul on a ticket from Kuldeep Bishnoi’s Haryana Janhit Congress.
He, however, defected to the Congress immediately after the assembly elections along with four others and was appointed a minister in Hooda 2.0 government. His father Rao Bansi Singh was also a minister in Haryana.
Rao Narender Singh contested assembly elections in 2014, 2019 and 2024, though unsuccessfully. His affidavit filed before the Election Commission of India in 2024 shows he faces a criminal case lodged by the state vigilance bureau (Gurgaon) under Section 7, 13(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. The case was filed on the orders of the Lokayukta against him and four other Congress MLAs—Jarnail Singh, Vinod Bhayana, Ramniwas Ghorela and Naresh Selwal—on the basis of a sting operation.
Rao Narender Singh’s appointment as HPCC president is being seen as a bid by the Congress to woo OBC voters who appear to have drifted towards BJP since 2014.
Ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, BJP had replaced then CM Manohar Lal Khattar with Nayab Singh Saini, an OBC face.
Hooda’s reinstatement as CLP leader, on the other hand, is on expected lines as a majority of the 37 Congress MLAs in Haryana owe their allegiance to him, it is learnt. Hooda, who served as Haryana chief minister from 2005 to 2014, has been the face of the state Congress since 2005 when he was first appointed by the high command to lead the state.
While AICC general secretary Kumari Selja and former MP Brijendra Singh congratulated Hooda and Rao Narender Singh on their appointments by posting messages on their X, former Haryana minister Captain Ajay Yadav didn’t seem amused.
“Congress needs to introspect regarding the falling graph of party in Haryana by it today’s decision. Rahul Gandhi ji wanted Haryana Congress president who should have clean, spotless image and youth but decision is reverse @RahulGandhi @HariprasadBK2 the party cadre morale is at its lowest level,” Yadav wrote in a post on X.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)