It’s a double whammy for Hoodas

Geetanjali Gayatri

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 23

The rout of the state Congress may form the big picture in Haryana, but the picture within the picture that is worrisome for former Chief Minister and Congress MLA Bhupinder Singh Hooda is his defeat by 1.58 lakh votes at the hands of BJP candidate Ramesh Kaushik in a seat seen as his backyard.

Hooda’s defeat, shortly before Assembly elections which are likely to be held in October, comes as a big blow to the Congress in the state, to Hooda personally and to his faction, comprising a majority of the sitting MLAs.

Legislators owing allegiance to him were never doubtful of a win and had, just like Hooda, maintained that this would be the leader’s ticket to Chandigarh (indicative that he would land in the Chief Minister’s chair after his win).

However, the result prompted his supporters to argue that Hooda was never given his due by the party high command, which kept trying to balance the egos of all senior leaders without taking any conclusive decision despite a growing shrill pitch to project Hooda as the Congress face.

The leaders in the Hooda faction maintained that unlike Punjab, where the Congress top brass projected Capt Amarinder Singh and gave him a free hand, Hooda’s role was always restricted. Even as head of the campaign committee in the state, he did not have any say in ticket distribution till he fought for it.

The demand for handing over reins of the party in Haryana to Hooda were constantly ignored, resulting in things coming to such a pass that the party lost all 10 seats. They maintained that the party would meet a similar fate in Assembly elections if it delayed “necessary changes” needed to resurrect the party.

While Hooda’s mobile phone was switched off following the results, sources in the party admitted that recovering from this setback in the Lok Sabha elections would prove to be an uphill task for the party’s tallest leader, who had been the Jat face of the Congress in the state and farmers’ leader at the Centre.

Seen as a formidable leader who could deliver in the face of adversity, Hooda’s candidature from Sonepat was the outcome of the Congress strategy to field its senior-most leaders in the hope of raising the party’s graph in the Lok Sabha elections as a prelude to Assembly elections.

Sonepat, seen as Hooda’s stronghold where the party has five of the nine MLAs who owe their win partially to him, seemed the safest bet for the party struggling against the BJP. Hooda had expressed his willingness to contest the poll. However, this defeat, from a candidate seen as a ‘weak alternative’ to the Congress leader by the BJP, led to loss of face for him personally.

A win would have catapulted Hooda to a level higher than other aspirants within the party while this defeat brought him down to the also-ran category and put him on a par with the other faction leaders within the party.

Further, his son Deepender’s defeat from Rohtak came as a double whammy for the Hoodas, who were hoping to strike gold within the party after this election. 

What the loss means

• This defeat has brought Bhupinder Hooda down to the also-ran category and put him on a par with the other faction leaders within the party

• Recovery from this setback will prove an uphill task for the Jat face of the Congress in the state and farmers’ leader at the Centre