Chandigarh: Former Haryana chief minister and senior Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda is all set to organise a major show of strength this week as his party grapples with infighting and a shrunken electoral standing.
With barely two months to go for the Haryana polls, a series of events has sparked speculation of a likely split in the opposition party, with no signs of a rapprochement between the different factions. The latest of these is Hooda’s “Parivartan Maha Rally” on home turf Rohtak Sunday.
Sources in the party said Hooda’s message of “parivartan” or “change” was not restricted to the state’s BJP government.
“Parivartan also means a personal message from Hooda to the Congress, that if they do not take a decision to task him with leading the party in the assembly elections, he will look at a parivartan,” said a close aide.
Hooda and his son, former MP Deepender Singh Hooda, were defeated in this year’s Lok Sabha elections from Sonepat and Rohtak, respectively. The two seats fall in Haryana’s Jat heartland and were considered to be the Hoodas’ pocket boroughs.
For the two-time chief minister, the defeat was not just personally humiliating, but also brought down the political currency of his family within the Congress.
It was all Hooda’s detractors in the faction-ridden party needed to corner him.
One of Hooda’s main rivals for leadership, state Congress chief Ashok Tanwar, did not waste any time in announcing that all the candidates who had lost the Lok Sabha election should not contest the assembly polls and allow others a chance.
The announcement was seen as a clear hint to the party high command to not allow the Hooda family to contest the assembly elections.
However, Tanwar told ThePrint that his remarks were not just meant “for a handful of candidates”.
“I believe that every candidate who contested the Lok Sabha polls should not contest elections and that includes me,” said Tanwar, who lost the polls from Sirsa.
Also read: 2 months before Lok Sabha polls, cracks in Haryana Congress are turning into gaping holes
‘Sending a message’
As part of the preparations for Hooda’s rally, a party workers’ meeting was organised on 3 August.
Of the 15 Congress MLAs in the state’s 90-member assembly, Hooda has the backing of 11, many of whom were present at the workers’ rally. Many former state cabinet ministers and MLAs of the Hooda camp were also in attendance.
Sources said the father-son duo had not invited any senior Congress leader from Delhi to attend the upcoming rally. Tanwar, of course, is not invited either.
The 18 August rally is being seen as Hooda’s final attempt to showcase his strength to the BJP and the Congress. Former minister Krishan Murti Hooda even told the media on 3 August that the possibility of Hooda floating his own political party could not be ruled out.
Deepender’s support for the Modi government’s decision to abrogate Article 370 — which stands at odds with his party’s stance, that was first critical of the move, and then the way it was carried out — has further fuelled rumours about Hooda intending to move away from the Congress.
Hooda himself, however, was non-committal on Article 370 in the Haryana assembly when the treasury benches, on 5 August, moved a resolution welcoming the move.
“This decision was part of the manifesto of the BJP and it has fulfilled that promise. But what about the 164 promises made by the Manohar Lal Khattar government in Haryana in his manifesto? I intend to highlight these failed promises,” Hooda had said in the House. Later, he left the assembly citing prior engagements.
“It is a well-known fact that Hooda has been extremely upset with his party high command for not giving him the charge of the Congress and continuing with Tanwar as a state president,” said an MLA of the Hooda camp. “The situation hasn’t changed in the past five years that Tanwar has been the president, and Hooda has been cooling his heels as a mere MLA.”
However, a top leader of the party said there was no possibility that Hooda would leave the Congress, but admitted that the rally was a message to the party.
“Hooda is facing several CBI cases and, for him, being in a national party grants him a certain immunity. He also knows that if he leaves the party, he will be at the receiving end of the BJP’s wrath,” the leader added.
“At its best, this rally is intended to be a strong signal to the Congress that he remains the topmost leader that the party has in Haryana and he should be given the reins of the party before the forthcoming elections.”
Also read: How Hooda and Tanwar are fighting a running battle to head the Haryana Congress
The Congress is yet to understand the importance of strong State leaders, to its detriment.