VIEWPOINT
AMITABH SHUKLA
It seems the Congress has
abandoned the Gandhi family at least in Haryana, which goes to polls next
month.
Given the diminishing electoral
returns of the Gandhi family, Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda,
seeking an improbable third term, has dropped the names of both party president
Sonia Gandhi and vice president Rahul Gandhi from the publicity material which
appears on both sides of GT Road
from the borders of Delhi to
Ambala.
Interestingly, after dropping the
names of the party president and vice president, Hooda has sought to emerge as
the only Congress leader in Haryana dwarfing others. All the wall paintings and
posters in this GT Road
belt only glorify Hooda and seek votes in his name. This comes at a time when
Hooda too has lost his clout in the State and battling extreme political
adversity and anti-incumbency to get at least a dozen seats in the State
Assembly.
But the message which the
publicity managers of Hooda, obviously with his concurrence, have sent is that
the days of the high command are over and the regional chieftains of Congress
would call the shots wherever they can. It is perhaps for the first time that a
Congress leader (Hooda) has declared himself the chief ministerial candidate of
the party. Moreover, Hooda is seeking votes on his own name, on his claims of
giving something to every section of the society in the State rather than
invoking the Gandhi family for the polls.
The Model Code of Conduct has
come into force in the State and an interesting battle is shaping up. Ruling
Congress is face to face with a resurgent BJP, riding high on the Narendra Modi
wave. The third angle in the contest is Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), which
practically has no chief ministerial candidate as both its top leaders — father
son duo of Om Prakash Chautala and Ajay Chautala — are languishing in jail
after being convicted in the teacher’s recruitment scam.
BJP has desisted from naming
anyone as the chief ministerial candidate as there are too many aspirants. The
party is going to polls with the formula of collective leadership to prevent
factionalism ahead of the polls. The only problem for BJP is the absence of a
leader who has an imprint all over the State. Newly-inducted Chaudhary Birender
Singh’s influence is limited to the Bangar belt, Rao Inderjit Singh, MP from
Gurgaon and Minister in the Modi Cabinet is an import from Congress and is not
acceptable to the cadres and middle ranking leaders. Another Minister in the
Modi Cabinet from Haryana Krishanpal Gurjar, the MP from Faridabad
is not known outside his constituency. Capt Abhimanyu, spokesperson of the BJP
too has been active but lacks ground support. Om Prakash Dhankar, national
President of BJP’s Kisan Morcha hails from Rohtak and was the only party
candidate who lost the Lok Sabha polls to Deepender Hooda. This could weaken
his chances of projection as the Chief Ministerial candidate even though he
hails from the dominant Jat community. State BJP president Ram Bilas Sharma too
hasn’t got much following and acceptability in the party.
Coming back to Congress, the most
significant problem in Haryana is the reliance of the high command on only
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.
The year 2014 was really bad for
Hooda on all counts. He saw the departure of several party stalwarts this year,
which considerably weakened the party’s amongst all castes and regions of the
state. Power Minister Capt Ajay Singh Yadav resigned from the Cabinet and then took
back his resignation on the eve of Assembly polls, indicating serious fault
lines.
All leaders who left Congress
this year, 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,” is the common
refrain of all those who left the party. Be it Chaudhary Birender Singh, Rao
Inderjit Singh, Dharambir and others.
What is ironical and an
indication of Congress turning a blind eye to Haryana is the fact that there is
no tall leader of any stature left who could be the potential rival of Hooda in
Haryana politics. There is only Rajya Sabha member Selja left 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, the Congress is a sinking ship in Haryana and the Captain of
the ship, 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 though there is a little
over a month for the State to go to polls, possible post poll permutations and
combinations are already being worked out. Even if BJP is not able to get the
numbers to form the Government on its own, a situation is emerging where it
could go for a post poll alliance with INLD to keep Congress out. INLD, an
erstwhile constituent of NDA, has been sympathetic to BJP and wanted an
alliance even in 2009 Assembly and Lok Sabha polls but was repeatedly spurned
by BJP. The Chautalas have been praising Modi for a long time on every forum
available to them. Now with NDA firmly in saddle in New
Delhi , INLD too has expectations as it has remained
out of power for a decade now. They could stitch a post poll alliance and
whoever has more seats, would be the dominant partner in the alliance and would
stake claim for CM’s post. Shiromani Akali Dal, an NDA constituent, is expected
to bridge the gap in case there is no clear mandate for any party. (September 15, 2014 )
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