Today in Politics: As exit polls put Congress ahead in Haryana, party faces crucial decision – who will be its CM face?

AAP national convenor and former CM Arvind Kejriwal is set to hold a second ‘Janta Ki Adalat’ rally in Delhi on Sunday

Among the other names doing the rounds are Rajya Sabha MP and AICC general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala, state party chief Udai Bhan, and Hooda’s son and Rohtak MP Deepender Hooda.

As polling concluded in Haryana on Saturday, exit polls suggested the Congress would return to power in Haryana after 10 years of BJP rule. However, with the results set to be announced on October 8, the party must now begin internal discussions on who it will project as its chief ministerial face with several senior leaders throwing their hats into the ring.

The front-runner in this race is the Leader of the Opposition in the outgoing Assembly, Bhupinder Singh Hooda as reported by Varinder Bhatia. A two-time CM from 2005 till 2014, Hooda also spearheaded the party’s campaign in the Assembly polls and in the recent Lok Sabha elections.

His bete noire and Sirsa MP Kumari Selja, the All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary and ex-Union minister, is also being seen as a major contender for the CM’s post. Apart from being a prominent Dalit face, she is also known for her proximity to the Gandhis.

Among the other names doing the rounds are Rajya Sabha MP and AICC general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala, state party chief Udai Bhan, and Hooda’s son and Rohtak MP Deepender Hooda.

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A senior Congress leader told The Indian Express, “Claimants can be many, but what matters is who do the elected MLAs want as their leader. Whoever is chosen as the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader is generally considered to be the party high command’s choice for the CM’s post. The final decision is taken by the high command and everybody will accept it, irrespective of their ambitions.”

The picture is less clear in Jammu and Kashmir, where Assembly elections were held after 10 years – the first after the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019. Some polls predicted a hung House while others gave a narrow lead to the Congress-National Conference alliance.

Kejriwal’s second ‘Janta ki Adalat’

Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal will address his second ‘Janta Ki Adalat’ rally at north Delhi’s Chhatrasal stadium on Sunday.

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On September 15, Kejriwal had announced his decision to resign from the CM’s post, saying that he needed to go to the “peoples’ court”, just two days after being released from Tihar jail where he spent over five months in connection with the excise policy case.

The AAP supremo also said that he would return to the top post after getting a “certificate of honesty” from Delhiites in the Assembly polls due in February.

Kejriwal in his first ‘Janta Ki Adalat’ rally at Jantar Mantar on September 22, asserted his honesty and posed five questions to RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat about the politics of the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

– With PTI inputs