Hooda camp projects Deepender as Haryana CM face, rival factions jittery

Sunit Dhawan

Rohtak, July 25

Congress’ Lok Sabha MP from Rohtak Deepender Hooda, who is taking out a padyatra under the aegis of the party’s ‘Haryana Mange Hisaab’ campaign, is being projected as the prospective Chief Minister of the state at his public meetings.

Deepender has represented the Rohtak constituency in the Lok Sabha four times and has also been a Rajya Sabha MP from Haryana. Political observers point out that Deepender, who has mostly remained confined to the Rohtak region, is now getting acceptance as a state-level leader in Haryana.

Gaining popularity among youth

Deepender Hooda has gained popularity among the state’s youth and proved to be a crowd-puller on the GT Road as well as in the Hisar-Sirsa belt owing to his clean image. —Dr Ranbir Kadiyan, Political Analyst

Dr Ranbir Kadiyan, a political analyst, says Deepender has gained popularity among the state’s youth owing to his clean image. However, he adds: “Deepender is being projected as a state-level leader amid apprehension of legal action against his father and two-time CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda.”

“Going by the recent raids by the ED on the premises of Congress leaders in the state, there is a strong possibility of the law enforcement agencies taking legal action against Hooda. The Hooda camp wants to project Deepender as a formidable political alternative to fill the political vacuum in such an event,” observes Dr Kadiyan.

Nonetheless, the projection of Deepender as prospective CM is being opposed not only by the BJP and other rival parties, but also by Hooda’s detractors within the Congress.

“The people of Haryana have made up their mind to oust the BJP and pin hopes on the Congress. The Congressmen should rise above the considerations of ‘I’ and ‘my’ and work with dedication to ensure the party’s victory in the upcoming Vidhan Sabha elections,” said AICC general secretary and Sirsa MP Kumari Selja during a recent media interaction.

She said the Congress would perform well only if the party members show unity.

The BJP leadership is also targeting the Hoodas by asserting that they would foil the mission of the father-son duo to grab power in the state.