Chandigarh: Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda Thursday said the party may think of fielding its candidate in the bypoll to a Rajya Sabha seat in Haryana if JJP leader Dushyant Chautala assures that he has all 10 MLAs of his party on his side.
If the Congress announces its candidate for the Rajya Sabha bypoll, it will throw a big challenge for the BJP in the state as the ruling party has 41 MLAs in the 90-member House having its effective strength of 87.
The BJP also enjoys support of the lone legislator of the Haryana Lokhit Party and Independent member Nayan Pal Rawat.
The Rajya Sabha bypoll was necessitated after Congress leader Deepender Hooda was elected to the Lok Sabha from Rohtak. The Election Commission is yet to announce the date for the bypoll.
“The Congress has 29 MLAs and three independents support us. We need 13-14 more. But first Dushyant should present his 10 MLAs, then we will think,” Bhupinder Hooda told reporters here.
The former chief minister was replying to a query about JJP leader Dushyant Chautala’s recent offer of support in case the Congress fields its candidate for the Rajya Sabha seat.
Hooda’s remarks came amid reports that a couple of JJP MLAs have expressed their support to the BJP recently.
Meanwhile, JJP leader Chautala said that if the Congress fights the Rajya Sabha by-election seriously, then the BJP’s defeat is certain.
“On one hand, Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Hooda says that the Haryana government does not have the majority, and on the other hand, refuses to contest the Rajya Sabha by-election saying that the opposition does not have the numbers. How can both these things be true,” the former deputy CM said in a post in Hindi on X.
The people of Haryana want to see the BJP losing the by-election, but Hooda does not want to contest at the behest of the ruling party, he alleged, and said that the entire opposition in Haryana is ready to support the Congress.
“We want the Congress to play the role of main opposition party and field an eminent person for the Rajya Sabha bypoll, so that the people of Haryana also know who (MLAs) are with them and who are with the government,” Chautala said.
The JJP’s four-and-a-half-year alliance with the BJP came to an end after the saffron party replaced Manohar Lal with Nayab Singh Saini as chief minister in March.
Hooda reiterated that the Congress will fight the Assembly polls on its own and said the alliance with the AAP was for Lok Sabha elections.
On the BJP’s charge that he only wants to promote his son, Hooda said it is about people’s acceptability.
With the Assembly polls due later this year, Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini and other BJP leaders have targeted Hooda, saying he was working to promote his son. They have also claimed that this time people will reject the “bapu-beta” (Hooda and his MP son Deepender) and the Congress in the polls.
When asked to respond to the nepotism charge by BJP leaders, Hooda said, “There is no point in making baseless allegations”.
“If I say ‘guru-chele’ ki sarkar (apparent reference to former chief minister Manohar Lal and his protege Saini), does that have any meaning,” he said.
“Ultimately, it is about people’s acceptability. No one can be thrust in the name of family. Opportunity may be there, but rest is up to people,” said Hooda, whose son Deepender Hooda recently won the Rohtak Lok Sabha seat for fourth time.
When asked if the upcoming assembly polls will be his last election, the 76-year-old veteran leader quipped in a lighter vein, “Very good question, but I won’t answer”.
Asked if the Congress will go into the polls with a CM’s face, Hooda said the party will fight collectively.
“Chief minister will be decided by MLAs, this has been the (party) tradition, there is nothing new in this,” he said.
Alleging that the BJP government in Haryana has been hit by many scams during the past decade, Hooda said the ruling dispensation had set up various SITs too, but their reports were not made public.
“We will not only take out these reports and in those cases where action needs to be taken we will take action when the Congress comes to power,” he said.
Referring to Congress wresting the five Lok Sabha seats from BJP in Haryana, Hooda said, “The results of Lok Sabha elections is a clear indication that people have made up their mind to form a Congress government after assembly polls.”
About infighting in Congress’ Haryana unit, Hooda said, “Our party is a democratic party. There can be differences of opinion…but what the party decides, that is acceptable to all.”
