VIEWPOINT
AMITABH SHUKLA
The Model Code of Conduct is
expected to come into force in Haryana by the end of this month for the
Assembly polls, expected to be held in October. In the run up to the polls,
there has been some expected and some unexpected script for the ruling
Congress. The outcome of all the drama being enacted in the State is pointing
towards one direction — a political disaster is waiting to happen. From now on,
only a miracle could help the Congress come to power in the State for the third
time in a row.
The most significant problem in
Haryana is the reliance of the Congress high command on only one leader —
Bhupinder Singh Hooda. This is a far cry from the policy of promoting several
leaders in any given State, representing different caste and sub-regional
aspirations. But in Haryana, party chief Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul
Gandhi have placed all their eggs in one basket. Tragically, the basket has got
torn and the eggs are falling one by one.
Even as the chips are down, Hooda
has shown no inclination to take everyone along as he perhaps knows the outcome
and is preparing to position himself in the party after a possible electoral
defeat in the Assembly polls. As the party high command is oblivious of the
charges of the dissidents and their repeated plea against the Chief Minister,
Hooda has turned into a regional autocrat, not willing to accommodate anyone
except his camp followers. All dissidents have either parted way or will do so
anytime now, except perhaps former Union Minister Selja, who is perhaps
positioning herself as an alternative to Hooda in State politics post 2014
Assembly polls.
Hooda’s autocratic style of
functioning is reflected in his stubborn approach in appointing several
commissioners to statutory bodies. With election weeks away, the appointments
did not serve any political purpose and harmed his reputation immensely. If you
appoint any person to a statutory post on the eve of elections and flout all
norms in the process, you only make a public spectacle of yourself. The
electorate keeps a watch on all this and looks for an opportune time. Sadly, it
is merely eight-ten weeks for Hooda.
Now, Governor Kaptan Singh
Solanki has asked for an explanation from the Government on the legality of
appointments. Obviously, Hooda will target the Governor saying he is a BJP
appointee. He could have easily avoided all this when polls are round the
corner and he could have waited for his third victory to appoint anyone
wherever he wanted. But then, it seems Hooda is himself not sure about the
electoral outcome, necessitating the controversial appointments. He perhaps
thought that making half a dozen people Commissioners, giving them perks like
office, vehicles and staff was more important than the credibility of his
Government.
The year 2014 was really bad for
Hooda on all counts. The controversy surrounding the appointment of the
Commissioners was only the latest in the list which troubled the two-time Chief
Minister from the Jat land of the state, Rohtak. Simultaneously, he was faced
with the resignation of his Cabinet colleague, Power Minister Capt Ajay Singh
Yadav from the Cabinet. Though Yadav took back his resignation after persuasion
from party high command, but the damage had been done. The entire State knew
the allegations which Yadav hurled at his boss and it will be foolhardy on part
of the party to believe that this will not hurt them in the polls.
Yadav charged Hooda with
discrimination against most areas of the state except Rohtak from where his son
Deepinder Hooda is MP, and areas surrounding it. “Only Rohtak, Sonipat and
Jhajjar have seen development. People in our areas question us about
development and jobs but we are helpless,” he said, while resigning, adding
that power was vested in a single person (Hooda) in the State and all decisions
flow from there. Yadav has been making the allegations for a while but was
forced to remain silent all these months as the party high command was backing
Hooda and never heeded to the campaign of dissidents.
That perhaps is the reason why
dissident Congress leader and Rajya Sabha member Chaudhary Birender Singh is
leaving Congress with which he was associated for four decades and joining BJP
in the next two weeks. A member of the Congress Working Committee, Birender’s
repeated complaint against Hooda in the last over four years found no takers in
New Delhi and no attempt was made to mollify him. He has now been removed from
the CWC but that is not going to cut the losses of the party. Birender is
expected to take away a section of the Jat voters with him when he leaves
Congress.
With Hooda becoming unpopular and
no guarantee of the party returning to power, Haryana Congress has been facing
an exodus of leaders. Rao Inderjit Singh, who had also been vocal against
Hooda, showed the way by joining BJP, winning from Rohtak and becoming a
minister in the Narendra Modi Cabinet. Like Birender, who is expected to join
the BJP on August 18, Rao, was also in the Congress for over four decades.
Congress leader and sitting
MLA, Dharambir switched over to BJP just
on the eve of Lok Sabha polls, got party ticket and is now a MP from Bhiwani-Mahendergarh seat. The move
has severely dented Congress’ hold in the area from where from chief minister
Bansi Lal hailed from. The third Congressman to be elected on a BJP ticket was
Ramesh Kaushik from Sonipat. He changed his loyalties sometime ago and was
rewarded with a BJP ticket.
Another major political setback
for Hooda this year was his friend Venod Sharma leaving Congress. He severed
his four-decade old ties with the Congress to float Jan Chetna Party. Sharma too is exploring
possibilities of merging his outfit with BJP or entering into a loose alliance
with it. Then there is Rajya Sabha member Selja who has been critical of Hooda
for years now but unlike other leaders, she will remain in the party and fight
the battle internally for leadership position in the near future. Clearly,
Congress is a sinking ship in Haryana and the Captain of the shit, Hooda has to
take the blame for so many desertions and doing little to change his style of
functioning and accommodating the views of those opposed to him.
The unpopularity of Hooda and the
Congress is there for all to see. The Lok Sabha poll results shook Congress
like never before, giving it merely one of the 10 seats. But Hooda continues to
overlook the results, saying that it was a wave in favour of a person (Modi)
and some other day ridiculing the Gujarat model of
development saying Haryana model was far better. I don’t know, how many voters
in Haryana believe him, but one thing is sure. Even his party colleagues do
not. That perhaps explains a series of high profile desertions this year. What
all this means is that Congress has practically written off Haryana even though
the Opposition is badly divided and the excellent performance of BJP in the Lok
Sabha polls may not necessarily mean that it will win Assembly polls as
comfortably.
Even as the writing is on the
wall, Hooda and Congress are putting up a brave face. Hooda has been touring
the entire state and mocking at the Gujarat model
insisting that there should be a Haryana model of Development in the country.
Clearly, the battle lines in the State indicate that it is Hooda versus the
rest. If Hooda misses the script and the plot in October polls, the entire
blame will be on his soldiers. The Chief Minister is doing all he can to change
the plot by aggressive campaigning. But it seems it is too little and too late. (August 4, 2014)
http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/chandigarh/2014-08-03-60689.html
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