Come Sunday, August 25, the Haryana public, the state Congress, and the Centre will know whether former Haryana chief minister and senior Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda will float his own political party, or lead the Congress in the assembly elections due in October.
Hooda held a 'Parivartan Maha Rally' at Rohtak on August 18, independent of his party, and asserted that he would be the chief ministerial candidate "with or without the party”.
This, the absence of portraits of Sonia Gandhi or Rahul Gandhi, the open hand that is the election symbol of the Congress, and his hailing the Modi government's scrapping of Article 370, have sent out mixed signals. Is he angry with the Congress leadership? And, more importantly, is the two-time chief minister of Haryana planning to jump ship?
In the course of his speech, Hooda said the Congress is not the party it once was, and that it has lost its way. Even as there were speculations that he may announce his own party in the course of the coming two or three weeks, his support for the abolition of Article 370 has led to interpretations that he may join the BJP, along with his supporters.
Senior sources in Haryana BJP said, “Our doors are open to all. Now, we have leaders who have come from almost all the parties. But, he cannot be the chief ministerial candidate here. Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar already is.”
Though the party high command has not yet named Khattar so, the chief minister has launched a jan ashirwad yatra—a tour of the state. At some rallies, he sought the people's blessings for the BJP's second term in office, in addition to seeking another term for himself. “I come here seeking your blessings. I urge you to give me a second chance so that the state can witness more growth.”
A couple of days after his “with or without the Congress” speech at a Rohtak rally, Hooda surprised Congress leaders on August 21 by showing up at Vir Bhumi, a memorial dedicated to the late prime minister Rajiv Gandhi.
Hooda's actions have made it clear that he is putting pressure on the party high command to name him the president of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee in place of Ashok Tanwar. This would also make him the contender for the post of chief minister, should the Congress cross the half-way mark when assembly elections are held about three months from now. He told the crowd that he would have four deputy chief ministers, and also announced a number of social welfare measures like enhanced pension and loan waiver.
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