Kiran Choudhry’s exit may strengthen Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s hold on Haryana Congress

Sunit Dhawan

Rohtak, June 19

Congress Tosham MLA Kiran Choudhry joining the BJP along with her daughter and former MP Shruti is likely to benefit the camp of party stalwart Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

Kiran has been a part of the ‘SRK’ group, including Hooda’s detractors — Lok Sabha MP-elect Selja Kumari and Rajya Sabha MP Randeep Surjewala.

With Kiran leaving the party, the ‘SRK’ group loses a member, while the Hooda camp is all set to get a free hand in the allocation of tickets for the upcoming Assembly elections in the Sonepat-Jhajjar-Rohtak-Bhiwani-Hisar belt.

Hooda’s will had prevailed in the selection of candidates in the recent Lok Sabha elections as well, and four of the five nominees elected to the Lok Sabha, barring Selja, owe allegiance to his group.

As per political observers, Kiran and Shruti’s decision to part ways with the Congress does not seem to be impulsive. “The vote of one Congress MLA had been declared invalid in the Rajya Sabha election of 2022, which led to the defeat of Congress candidate Ajay Maken. Maken had accused Kiran of casting the invalid vote,” says Dr Ranbir Kadiyan, a political analyst.

Factionalism in the Congress had come to the fore after the party fielded Rao Dan Singh of Hooda camp instead of Shruti. The rift came out in the open when Kiran and Rao Dan Singh pointed fingers at each other in front of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi during a rally, days before the polling.

“Perhaps she realised that she may not get a ticket from the Tosham Assembly constituency,” says Kadiyan, adding that her decision to join the BJP may not be fruitful as Congress leaders who had switched over to the saffron party much earlier are still struggling to get a foothold there.

His views are endorsed by Prof Rajendra Sharma, Head of the Department of Political Science at MDU in Rohtak. “Joining the BJP has become a trend among leaders who have lost hope of political fulfilment in the Congress. They include successors of prominent leaders in different states. However, BJP’s track record indicates that such entrants do not get much attention there,” notes Professor Sharma.