Former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda met Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Thursday amidst speculation of a leadership change in the State ahead of the Assembly elections in a few months’ time.
Senior leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, the Congress in-charge for Haryana, was also present at the meeting. Neither of them spoke to the media.
This is the first time since the August 18 Rohtak rally — where Mr. Hooda indicated that he would leave the party — that the former Chief Minister has called on Ms Gandhi.
Mr. Hooda has been insisting on changing State Congress chief Ashok Tanwar, who was appointed by former Congress president Rahul Gandhi five years ago. Supporters of Mr Hooda, who have always questioned Mr. Tanwar’s leadership, demanded the Haryana Congress chief's removal after the party failed to win even one of the 10 Lok Sabha seats.
Though there have been several rounds of discussion between Ms. Gandhi and Mr. Azad, the party is yet to make an announcement. Several options, however, are being discussed to accommodate all factions of the party.
One possibility is that Mr. Tanwar could be given an assignment in the All-India Congress Committee (AICC). Mr. Hooda could be made the campaign chief for Haryana elections, while Kumari Selja could be asked to head the party.
Another option being discussed is that the high command could ask Mr. Tanwar and the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) chief Kiran Chaudhary to continue in their posts as there is hardly any time for the election scheduled to be announced. Mr. Hooda could be named as the party’s campaign chief and his son Deepender Hooda could be accommodated as a working president.
Upset with the Congress high command, Mr. Hooda, who has been Congress chief ministerial nominee for two consecutive terms, had told his supporters at the Rohtak rally that he would decide his future course after consulting his colleagues and Congress lawmakers in the Assembly. Claiming that the Congress party had lost its way, Mr. Hooda had also openly defied the Congress Working Committee (CWC) resolution on Article 370 by backing the Centre.
“Our soldiers from Haryana lay their lives down in Jammu and Kashmir, so I supported the scrapping of Article 370, though many friends in the Congress opposed it. There can be no compromise on national interest and self-respect,” Mr. Hooda had said on August 18.
Sources, however, told The Hindu that Ms. Gandhi had directly spoken to Mr. Hooda and urged him not to act in haste. Since the Rohtak rally, Mr. Hooda too has not followed up on his announcement about consulting his colleagues to decide his future course of action.
