NEW DELHI: The Congress on Wednesday appointed Kumari Selja, a former Union Minister, as its Haryana unit chief. Selja, who is also a Rajya Sabha member from Haryana, will replace party leader Ashok Tanwar as president of Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee. Former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda was named as the leader of the Congress legislature party.

The announcements were made by former Union Minister and Haryana Congress in-charge Ghulam Nabi Azad and party General Secretary, Organisation, K.C. Venugopal. Addressing the media, Azad said: "Congress chief Sonia Gandhi has approved the appointment of Kumari Selja as Haryana Congress chief."

"Hooda has been made the CLP leader and Leader of Opposition and also the Chairman of the Election Committee," he added. The appointments end months of speculation over the issue of new state Congress chief amid reports of difference between former Haryana state unit chief Ashok Tanwar and Hooda. The party is preparing hard for the Haryana assembly elections due in the next few months.

Azad admitted that there was a delay in the appointment of the state chief but "better late than never".

To a question over Hooda using pressure tactics to gain control in the party, Azad said: "Whatever done in the past is past. This is the future and the new team will ensure to strengthen the Congress in elections."

The Congress was wiped out in all the 10 Lok Sabha seats in the state in the recently concluded general election. The party lost to the BJP in the state in 2014 assembly polls.