Even members of the Gandhi family don’t find space in the posters for the rally that have been released on social media.
New Delhi: Ahead of the Haryana Assembly elections, former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and his son Deepender Hooda will hold a Parivartan rally on 18 August in Rohtak to showcase their strength. The event is being managed solely by the father-son duo and even Congress state president Ashok Tanwar is not being consulted for the event.
A source close to the Congress, who gave this information, added that “The Hooda family is not letting any stones unturned to make the rally a big success.”
“Soon after the completion of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, intense infighting among Congress leaders surfaced, but the Congress central leadership has so far not been able to stop the ongoing situation in the state Congress. The Hooda father-son duo has been blaming Ashok Tanwar for their defeat in the Lok Sabha polls from Sonipat and Rohtak, respectively, and has demanded his resignation. But since he enjoys the blessings of the central leadership, Tanwar has refused to take any responsibility for the defeat of the party,” the source told The Sunday Guardian.
“The Hooda family is not consulting the Congress state president; they are also not consulting the central leadership before planning to hold the rally in Rohtak. Even the posters for the upcoming rally that have been released on social media have the pictures of Bhupinder Singh Hooda and his son Deepender Hooda. No one else. Even members of the Gandhi family have not got any space in those posters,” added the source.
The absence of the Gandhi family from the posters of the rally has sparked speculation that the Haryana Congress (Hooda family) might be planning to go ahead with their election campaign without giving much importance to the Gandhi family.
“Factionalism inside the Congress in Haryana has reached its peak. The ongoing dispute between Hooda and Tanwar does not seem to stop. Therefore, pro-Hooda legislators are increasing pressure so that a big decision can be announced at the rally in Rohtak on 18 August,” a close aide of Tanwar told The Sunday Guardian.
“Ashok Tanwar and his supporters are watching the move of the Hooda family and have informed the central leadership about all these developments. The central leadership has assured Tanwar of taking the right decision for maintaining discipline in the party. So far, Tanwar has decided not to share the stage with the Hoodas in the Rohtak rally,” Ashok Tanwar’s aide said.
The Congress is witnessing a bad phase in Haryana. In the recent past, it has suffered back-to-back defeats in the state.
In the 2014 Assembly polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party comfortably got the majority by securing 47 seats in the 90-seat Assembly and formed government in the state. The Abhay Singh Chautala-led Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) was the runner-up with 18 seats, while the Congress finished third place with 17 seats.
Similarly, in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Congress could manage to win only one out of the 10 seats in Haryana, while the BJP aced the state with seven seats. The INLD was runner-up just two seats.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Congress was left more vulnerable with the BJP winning all the parliamentary seats from the state.