Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s political prowess brings gains for Congress, stuns BJP

Hooda had been on the back foot after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) dethroned the Congress in Haryana in October 2014 and the Manohar Lal Khattar govrnment turned up the heat on him for alleged irregularities in land deals. After the Congress high command also sidelined him, Hooda had been on a rebellious path.

Long before the Haryana assembly polls on October 21, the Congress’s top guns in Delhi had already conceded defeat. The mood within the rank and file of the Haryana Congress, plagued by infighting, was gloomy.

Haryana Congress president Kumari Saleja and former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupender Hooda speak to media after meeting the Election Commission of India at Nirvachan Sadan in New Delhi. (Photo by Vipin Kumar / Hindustan Times)

But for Bhupinder Singh Hooda, 71, the elections presented a now or never opportunity. The former two-time chief minister had sensed the pulse of the highly unpredictable Haryanvi electorate.

Hooda had been on the back foot after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) dethroned the Congress in Haryana in October 2014 and the Manohar Lal Khattar govrnment turned up the heat on him for alleged irregularities in land deals. After the Congress high command also sidelined him, Hooda had been on a rebellious path.

At a public rally in Rohtak in August, Hooda seemingly burned his bridges with the Congress when he condemned the central leadership for its stance on the nullification of Article 370 that conferred special status on Jammu and Kashmir.

According to Hooda, who had been desperately trying to retrieve his diminished political stature, he first sensed the anti-BJP mood in Haryana when he undertook a “rath yatra,” or road journey, last year.

The yatra was an attempt by Hooda to send out a message to the party high command that he enjoyed a mass base in Haryana.

It was this confidence that Hooda showed in unfurling the banner of revolt against the Congress that finally compelled Sonia Gandhi to rehabilitate the popular Jat leader by handing him important election-related responsibilities last month.

And less than 45 days after he was given the task of spearheading the Congress’s campaign, Hooda on Thursday almost halted the BJP juggernaut in the state where the ruling party failed to win even a simple majority after a clean sweep of the 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana just months earlier. The Congress, with 31 seats, performed better than most exit polls had predicted.

Not only did the verdict stun an overconfident BJP, it also silenced Hooda’s critics within the Congress.

During the campaign, Hooda crisscrossed the entire state and touched all the 90 assembly segments where his rallies evoked unexpectedly enthusiastic response.In fact, Hooda himself admitted that he had been surprised by the kind of popular response he received at his rallies.

The former CM told Hindustan Times on the campaign trail in Hisar and Fatehabad districts that the Congress was in a position to reach the halfway mark in the assembly.

“I have covered 25 segments from Naraingarh to Narnaund and I am happy with the response of the people. Only problem is the lack of time. Otherwise…,” Hooda said.