Haryana ex-CM Hooda meets Sonia on assembly poll strategies, pledges party unity

Aditi Tandon

New Delhi, July 16

Haryana ex-chief minister and state Congress stalwart Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Tuesday met chairperson of the parliamentary party Sonia Gandhi in the capital and pledged unity ahead of the crucial assembly polls scheduled later this year.

“We will win the Haryana elections convincingly. All 36 communities of the state have united behind the Congress and are determined to ensure its victory,” said the veteran leader confident that the party has support of all sections in the state.

He said the trend was visible in Lok Sabha elections where the Congress bagged five out of ten parliamentary constituencies in the state as against zero in 2019.

Asked whether he saw as factionalism in the state unit as a challenge, Hooda said there was no disunity in ranks.

“We are all united and will go into polls together,” said the former CM widely seen as the principal face of the Congress campaign in the state though he had growing competition from another formidable state leader Kumari Selja who proved her strength by recently winning the Sirsa Lok Sabha poll big defeating ex state Congress chief Ashok Tanwar.

Hooda also said the party had begun preparations for candidate nominations and had asked probable to apply for tickets by July end.

The ruling BJP which has been in power in Haryana for two terms will be eyeing a hat-trick this time.