Ups and downs fail to deter Hooda

Amitabh Shukla / Chandigarh

Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda is no stranger to the ups and downs of politics and governance. But what goes in his favour is that he has emerged unscathed from the crises in recent months and has only strengthened his hold in the state politics. Deft political maneuvering and timely administrative decisions has added to his political clout.

On the day of Lohri followed by Makar Sankranti, what contributed to the “feel good” factor in Haryana was the increase in MSP of sugar and the order of Haryana Speaker Kuldeep Sharma justifying the merger of 5 Haryana Janhit Congress with the Congress after the 2009 Assembly polls.

But not long ago, the party was in a crisis after it lost the high profile Hissar Lok Sabha constituency in 2010 in which the entire Hooda administration had burnt midnight oil. But their efforts had come to a naught as the Congress candidate could not even save his security deposit. Not only Congress but even Hooda lost his face.

A series of rape cases rocked Haryana last year in September and October forcing party President Sonia Gandhi to visit a rape victim’s family.  This was followed by Arvind Kejriwal’s expose on the questionable land dealings of Gandhi’s son Robert Vadra in the National Capital Region. The continuous barbs of IAS officer Ashok Khemka added to the woes of the state government.

Soon several farmers organisation protesting the setting up of a nuclear power plant in Fatehabad intensified their agitation and refused to take compensation, jeopardizing the ambitious project. Then members of the Jat community came together, launched an agitation and threatened to block the national Capital demanding OBC reservations. Sugarcane farmers followed suit and staged protests all over demanding higher Minimum Support Price.

A plethora of issues troubled the government continuously, many of those required quick response. Hooda not only defused the crisis but in some cases even nipped the problem in the bud. Now, even some of the opponents of the chief minister have come around and privately admit that at this juncture, they hardly have any major issue to corner the government in the next Assembly session.

When the protest of sugarcane farmers was gathering steam and their agitation had the potential to bring trouble, Hooda simply accepted their demand and increased the MSP by Rs 45 per quintal, a good 20 per cent hike. This immediately endeared him to the protestors as their grouse was addressed.

Giving OBC status and reservation to the dominant Jat community was much more complex. A Commission to look into the matter was sitting on the report for a while and when the community threatened agitation demanding reservation with the Khaps backing them, Hooda again brought out the report of the commission. His Cabinet recommended OBC status to the Jats, recommended 10 per cent reservation and as the matter pertained to the Centre, lobbed the ball in the court of the central government. Now, when any member of the Jat community asks about it, the government simply says that everything has been done from the state government and efforts are on to persuade the Centre to bring the Jats in the central list to get benefits of reservation in jobs and educational institutions.

Last year when a series of rape cases in the state hogged the limelight, making his position jittery and forcing Gandhi to visit the state, Hooda took a series of administrative steps. These included setting up of women police stations, special helpline numbers manned by lady police officials, cracking the whip on the police to solve the cases, giving district postings to women IAS and IPS etc. Rapes still took place, but it was no longer reported prominently in the media as the government showed seriousness and intent to tackle the issue.

Land compensation for the Fatehabad nuclear plant too was done in a transparent manner with an enhanced rate and fast pace. So much so that some farmers who got compensation even persuaded those protesting that it was better to take compensation and get other benefits of the state government rather than protest.

The Robert Vadra land dealings too have been dealt with administratively. Committee of officials was appointed, giving the son-in-law of Gandhi a clean chit. There is hardly a murmur on the issue, the only exception being Khemka who had cancelled the mutation of the Vadra-DLF deal.

Politically, after the defeat of Hisar, Hooda recouped in a short span and won Ratia assembly by-election for the party, a seat which was the bastion of the opposition for decades. Recently, he has managed to soften the barbs of his rivals in the state unit – Union Minister Kumari Selja, AICC General Secretary Chaudhary Birender Singh and Capt Ajay Singh Yadav who is in his Cabinet. He has a close confidante, Phool Singh Mullana as the PCC chief and a suave and soft spoken B K Hariprasad as the AICC General Secretary in-charge of the state. Nothing could have been better for Hooda in his second term as chief minister as is the situation now. (January 15, 2013)
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