‘Bhaavi mukhyamantri’: In Hooda stronghold, veteran leader’s supporters rally behind ‘CM-to-be’

In his speech, Hooda, the Leader of the Opposition also dropped a similar signal.

“Tum isnu (Kuldeep Vats) MLA bana do, main thaari sarkar bana deunga (You elect Kuldeep Vats as an MLA, I will form your government),” Hooda said and added that “every vote given to Vats will go into his account”.

Though the Congress central leadership has not projected a CM face in Haryana, by dint of his influence Hooda has been able to establish himself as one across the Jat-dominated Sonipat, Jhajjar, and Jind districts that are considered his stronghold. Several posters have come up in the area referring to Hooda as the “CM-to-be”.

Deepak Babaria, AICC general secretary in-charge of Haryana, refused to comment on the issue.

Other senior leaders of the party said that Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s statement at a press conference in New Delhi on September 18 was the party’s official line.

“The Congress has a practice. The elected MLAs decide who will become the CM. We do the same everywhere. This is not a new system,” Kharge said when asked if Hooda was the party’s CM face in Haryana.

In the recent past, the Congress has declared a CM face ahead of the Punjab Assembly elections in 2017, naming Captain Amarinder Singh.

Hooda’s hold

If one thing is apparent from the Haryana election campaign, it is Hooda’s hold on the state unit. Despite many senior leaders in the Haryana Congress jostling for influence, Hooda, a prominent Jat leader and two-time CM, has managed to stand his ground. This was clearly visible in ticket distribution, with 72 of the party’s 90 candidates said to be Hooda’s choice, according to Congress insiders.

In the Scheduled Caste-reserved Jhajjar constituency, where the Congress has fielded sitting MLA Geeta Bhukkal, a giant poster outside the party’s election office reads: “Abki baar Hooda sarkar (This time around, it is Hooda’s rule).” At a rally on September 20 in the Baroda constituency in Sonipat, a Congress leader declared “Chaudhry Bhupinder Singh Hooda” would be the CM.

In separate public meetings in Gohana and Safidon the same day, the Congress’s Sonipat MP Satpal Brahamchari called Hooda a “former and future CM”.

Asked about the projection of Hooda as CM, the Congress’s Jhajjar election in-charge Manoj Kumar told The Indian Express, “If the Congress wins a majority, we are 99% sure that Bhupinder Singh Hooda will be the CM. The rest, it is up to the party’s central leadership to decide after the polls.”

On the chances of Sirsa MP Kumari Selja or other party leaders becoming the CM, a Congress leader in Sonipat said, “Selja is the number three leader in the state after Bhupinder Hooda and (his son) Deepender Hooda. She is a prominent Dalit leader but her influence is restricted to certain areas of Sirsa. Hooda has influence over a larger area and is more popular.”

Selja’s absence from key Congress events since September 12 raised questions about her position in the party. She met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge late on Sunday and is said to have raised how she and several other senior leaders and workers were allegedly ignored during the formulation of the party’s manifesto and candidate selection and kept out of other party platforms. After receiving reassurances from the leadership, Selja is set to resume campaigning in Narwana in Jind district on September 26

A local Congress leader in Jhajjar said Hooda was “leading the campaign in the district” with most candidates also of his choice.

Some voters, however, said the party should change its CM face. “Congress leaders are appealing for a change of guard in the state. The Congress should also consider changing its CM face in Haryana. There are other prominent leaders like Selja and Randeep Singh Surjewala who should be given a chance. Why always Hooda? Just because he is Jat and Jats are dominant in the state? The BJP too has had a non-Jat CM,” said Dharmendra Saini in Jhajjar city.

Rocky Yadav from the Riwasa town in Mahendragarh said Hooda “only has a base among Jats”.

“People from other castes such as Yadavs, Dalits, Rajputs and Sainis also vote for the Congress. These castes should also be provided equal opportunities like Jats,” he said.