Race hots up for top job in Haryana

As the scene of the battle for Haryana chief ministership shifts to the state capital tomorrow, three Congress leaders — Energy Ministe...

As the scene of the battle for Haryana chief ministership shifts to the state capital tomorrow, three Congress leaders — Energy Minister P.M. Sayeed and AICC general secretaries Janardan Dwivedi and Ashok Gehlot — are set to handle the task of eliciting MLAs’ views as central observers.

If party president Sonia Gandhi has already made up her mind, the three leaders would push the chosen name through, and the MLAs would be called upon to accept the choice in the true party tradition. But if the name is still undecided, PCC president Bhajan Lal, a front-runner for the top job, will breathe easy.

Dwivedi is perceived to be inclined towards Lal and the other two can be described as neutral. Other claimants for the top job — Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Birender Singh, Kumari Selja and Randeep Singh Surjewala — don’t have this advantage.

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Dwivedi’s position as general secretary in-charge would make his role crucial. Sayeed, mild-mannered and amiable, is unlikely to lobby for any particular claimant. Gehlot has been at the receiving end from the Jat lobby back home in Rajasthan throughout his five-year tenure as CM. It remains to be seen if he uses his new assignment to try making it up with the community by backing a Jat leader’s claim for chief ministership or settle scores by sabotaging it.

In retaliation to the Hooda-Selja combine’s attempt to block his candidature, Lal today voiced his opposition to any MP being drafted for the post. He said any such move would imply that none of the 67 MLAs is capable of being the CM.

He claimed majority support in the CLP and sought to deflate Surjewala’s candidature by rejecting the demand for a young CM. His argument — one needs experience to run the government.