Haryana polls: Tickets being given to those who joined Congress recently, says Ashok Tanwar

Amid growing resentment over the distribution of tickets for the assembly polls, Congress' former Haryana unit chief Dr Ashok Tanwar on Wednesday said the leadership is giving tickets to the people who recently joined the party and is ignoring other workers, who worked hard for years.

Addressing the Congress workers protesting outside the residence of party president Sonia Gandhi here, Tanwar said: "I have worked hard for years. The people who joined the party 15 days ago are being given tickets by the party."

He alleged that the ticket for Sohna assembly seat in Gurugram was "sold for Rs 5 crore." He said the leadership in the state has been destroyed. "We have remained dedicated to the party. Why do you have to give tickets to those who recently joined the party, but were critical of the party earlier."

Tanwar claimed that he was approached to join the BJP six times in the last three months, but he turned down the offer as he is "not hungry of power." "I had personal issues with Randeep Singh Surjewala but I set aside all those differences for the party's sake," he said.

Miffed over the issue, scores of Congress workers staged a protest earlier outside the residence of Gandhi. They also raised slogans against Ghulam Nabi Azad, who is the in-charge of the party's Haryana affairs.

In reply to a question, the agitating Congress workers took the name of senior party leaders -- Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Azad -- in one breath, who, according to them, are allegedly giving tickets to the wrong people.

Haryana will go to polls on October 21. The results will be declared on October 24.