Congress fighting shy of naming Haryana LoP, Hooda asked by BJP govt to vacate house

The BJP government has issued a notice to Hooda, asking him to vacate the house.

Stung by the poll defeat, the Congress high command has been delaying the move to hold a Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting to elect its leader, who would also serve as the LoP.

Hooda, who has been occupying the government bungalow since 2019, has sought 15 days’ time to vacate the house.

Talking to The Indian Express, Hooda said, “It (the notice) is a normal procedure. There’s nothing more to it. It (house) has to be vacated, otherwise the penal rent starts.”

House No. 70 was considered a power centre in Haryana during Hooda’s tenure as the CM from 2004 till 2014. In that period, the house was occupied by Hooda’s then Principal Officer on Special Duty M S Chopra.

Although the Congress had plunged to 15 seats out of the state’s 90 in the 2014 Assembly polls with Hooda as the LoP, the house was initially allotted to him “in the capacity of being a former CM”. He had then organised a massive gathering for the grihapravesh (house warming) in what was seen as a show of strength in political circles.

During Hooda’s tenure as the CM, the Haryana government provided facilities to former CMs equivalent to those for Cabinet ministers. However, a few months after the BJP formed the government in 2014, then CM Manohar Lal Khattar withdrew this provision. Thus, Hooda had to subsequently vacate the house, which was then allotted to Industries and Commerce Minister Vipul Goel, who is again eyeing the same bungalow.

The house was however allotted to Hooda afresh after the 2019 Assembly polls, even though the Congress still lost the polls following which he was again named the LoP.

The results of the recent Assembly polls were declared on October 8 and the new government led by CM Saini took oath on October 17. The BJP’s ministers in the previous government who lost had already vacated their official bungalows, which have now been allotted to the newly-inducted ministers.

About eight weeks after the polls, the Congress has still not picked its CLP leader. After each of the last four Assembly elections, the LoP, irrespective of the party, had been declared within a fortnight of the announcement of the results.

In the Congress’s case this time, infighting between the rival party factions led by Hooda and Sirsa MP Kumari Selja has delayed the decision on the CLP leader, party insiders said.

Hooda has been downplaying the delay. During the just-concluded Winter Session of the Assembly, Hooda told reporters: “It is not uncommon not to have a Leader of Opposition in the Vidhan Sabha. The decision has to be taken by the party high command and they shall take it soon.”

But things are not going well within the Haryana Congress ever since the party failed to reach the majority mark, getting 37 seats. The BJP created history by winning its third consecutive term with 48 seats. The Indian National Lok Dal won two seats, while three Independents, who are now supporting the BJP, were also elected.

Congress sources told The Indian Express that intense lobbying is continuing within the state party unit to corner the post of the CLP leader.

“Although a majority of the MLAs are on Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s side and would want to see him as their leader, it is up to the party high command to take the final call. If the party high command does not wish to continue with Hooda as the CLP leader, there are chances that somebody from his camp may be announced as the new one. From the Hooda camp, Beri MLA Raghuvir Kadian, Thanesar MLA Ashok Arora and Jhajjar MLA Geeta Bhukkal are the front-runners. From the Selja camp, Panchkula MLA Chander Mohan’s name is doing the rounds within party circles,” a senior Congress leader told The Indian Express.

Congress sources added that the “manner in which the party high command is giving signals suggesting structural changes in the state unit, there could be a possibility that Hooda may not be appointed as the CLP leader.”