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Acid test for Mr. Hooda

SUJAY MEHDUDIA AND RAJESH AHUJA
Chandigarh

The election in Haryana is perceived as a referendum on the Congress’ State government

The Lok Sabha poll to the 10 seats in Haryana will be an acid test for Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and his “development plank.” It will set the tone for the Assembly election scheduled early next year, when the bigger battle will be fought for the control of the 90-member State Assembly.

The Congress and Mr. Hooda are banking heavily on their four-year “development-oriented agenda,” where they claim to have broken caste barriers and altered voting patterns among major communities.

“We are heading for a big victory. There is a pro-incumbency wave in Haryana for the development works and relief given to all sections. We will come out with flying colours,” says Deepinder Hooda, son of the Chief Minister and the candidate from Rohtak.

The Congress has nine MPs in the outgoing Lok Sabha with the sole BJP MP representing Sonipat. Faced with internal dissension from some of his former Congress colleagues, including former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal, Mr. Bhupinder Singh Hooda is leaving no stone unturned.

For the Chief Minister, repeating the 2004 performance or bettering it will be a difficult task. In the 2004 Lok Sabha election, the Congress had polled over 42 per cent of the vote; it got 42.46 per cent in the 2005 Assembly poll.

Given that it won nine out of 10 seats in 2004, the ruling party’s rivals have the opportunity to improve their tally. But Mr. Bhupinder Singh Hooda, talking of a pro-incumbency wave, told The Hindu that his party will win all 10 seats in the State.

Geared up

But the opposition is in no mood to give up and has geared itself to take the battle to the enemy’s camp. The INLD-BJP alliance led by former Chief Minister, Om Prakash Chautala is set to give a tough fight to the Congress in all 10 seats.

Similarly, the Haryana Janhit Congress of former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal and his son, Kuldeep Bishnoi, are also up in arms against the Congress, something that is bound to hurt the party. The Bahujan Samaj Party has also fielded candidates in all the seats.

“The election will be a referendum on the policies of the Hooda Government. The people are fed up with the Congress Government and will vote for change,” says INLD leader Ajay Chautala.

A quick tour of the Sonepat, Karnal, Kurukshetra and Ambala constituencies revealed an upbeat mood in the Congress despite the dissidence and heartburn among those aspirants who did not get tickets. A worker said that the visits of Congress President Sonia Gandhi, party general secretary Rahul Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to the State has infused fresh energy into the campaign.

Observers believe that the INLD, which was routed in 2004 and 2005 when it fought alone, has witnessed a gradual erosion of its rural base, especially after the farmer agitation turned bloody during Mr. Chautala’s rule.

There are also indications that the tie-up with the BJP is not altogether smooth at the grassroots level.

Political interest

A question that has generated considerable political interest is how the Haryana Janhit Congress will fare. The old warhorse Mr. Bhajan Lal, despite age and ill-health, is contesting from Hissar, a battle that is being watched with considerable interest.

The Congress has fielded sitting MP Jai Prakash, while the INLD has put up former Finance Minister Sampat Singh against him. It is doubtful that the BSP will be able to replicate the social engineering formula, which has stood it well in other States, in Haryana. The Congress government has implement many schemes that target the Scheduled Castes, and the slogan “Mayawati for PM’ does not have much resonance in the State.

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