Interview/ Bhupinder Singh Hooda, former Haryana chief minister
Bhupinder Singh Hooda got the sobriquet ‘Ganga Putra’ after a narrow escape from death in 2003 when his car was swept away by the flooded river Pili in Haridwar.
He is a survivor in politics as well. After a series of electoral debacles since 2014, he was sidelined in state politics. But he clawed his way back in, making it clear to the Congress leadership that he was indispensable for the party in the state. Just ahead of the assembly elections in 2019, Hooda had, in a massive rally in his home turf Rohtak, virtually declared himself the chief ministerial candidate with or without the Congress. He had the support of 12 of the Congress’s 15 MLAs. It made the desired impact, as the party replaced Ashok Tanwar with Kumari Selja as state unit president and Hooda was named leader of the Congress legislature party and chief of the election management committee. The party did well, getting 31 seats and pulling the BJP below 40 in the 90-member Vidhan Sabha.
Hooda, 76, was chief minister for two terms between 2004 and 2014. A lot rides on his shoulders this time round, with the Congress leadership having virtually handed him the control of the campaign. This may also be his last chance at electoral redemption. At a meeting with the central leadership, he is learnt to have said that this could be his last election.
Son of freedom fighter Ranbir Singh Hooda, he took the political plunge in 1972 when he was appointed president of the Kiloi block in Rohtak. He worked his way up the ladder, manoeuvring a political landscape dominated by the Chautalas, Bhajan Lal and Bansi Lal. His stature grew when he defeated the Jat stalwart Devi Lal in the Rohtak Lok Sabha constituency in 1991. He repeated the feat in 1996 and 1998. He was appointed state Congress president in 1996 and held the post till 2001. Over the years, he has consolidated his popularity among the Jat voters who comprise around 30 per cent of the state’s population. He has also fashioned himself as a leader empathetic to the concerns of farmers.
Hooda’s big break came in 2004, when the Congress chose him as the chief minister over Bhajan Lal. He was reelected in 2009, something that had not happened in the state since 1972.
The time away from power has not been easy for Hooda, with the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate snapping at his heels over alleged land scams that took place under his rule, and his detractors challenging his dominance in the party.
A Sonia Gandhi loyalist, Hooda had difficulty dealing with Rahul Gandhi initially. He was among the group of 23 leaders who had openly expressed their dissatisfaction with the manner in which the Congress was being run after the humiliating defeat in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. He, however, reconciled with Rahul later.
State leaders like Selja, Randeep Singh Surjewala, Rao Inderjit Singh, Chaudhary Birendra Singh, Kiran Choudhry and Kuldeep Bishnoi were not comfortable with Hooda’s dominance. Some of them parted ways with the Congress and the others struggle to offer competition to him. The state Congress president Uday Bhan is a Hooda confidant.
Hooda also wants to bring his son Deepender, Lok Sabha member from Rohtak, to the centrestage of the state politics. He got Deepender to undertake the Haryana Mange Hisab Yatra. It seems Hooda’s quest for electoral redemption is also a bid to secure his political legacy.
Excerpts from an interview:
Q/ What are the issues in the elections?
A/ Till 2014, Haryana under the Congress government was number one in the country in per capita income, per capita investment, employment, and schemes for the elderly, sportspersons and farmers. The BJP has made it number one in unemployment, corruption, drug addiction, inflation and crime.
The Centre’s statistics show that Haryana is the least safe state. The Congress gave farmers loan waivers, electricity bill waivers and minimum support price, but the BJP gave them lathi charge and bullets. We gave more than two lakh permanent jobs to the youth, but the BJP gave them paper leaks, recruitment scams and contractual work under Kaushal Nigam and Agniveer. We made our daughters world-class wrestlers who brought glory to the country, but the BJP forced them to sit on dharna. The Congress freed traders from inspector raj and goonda raj, but the BJP sheltered criminals and got the traders sprayed with bullets.
Q/ What will the Congress offer to the people?
A/ We are going to the people with a vision for the future. If we form government, every elderly person will get Rs6,000 a month as pension and government employees will be given the benefit of the old pension scheme. To give relief to people from inflation, gas cylinders will be given at Rs500, and 300 units of free electricity will be given. Permanent appointments will be made to fill up two lakh vacant posts in the government. Free medical treatment up to Rs25 lakh will be provided.
Q/ Your critics say the Congress has done politics over Vinesh Phogat’s disqualification in the Olympics. Will she be given a ticket in this election?
A/ What politics did we do? Vinesh is the daughter of the country. She went to the Olympics to win a medal for the country. The whole country was sad for her. Is there any one person who is not supporting our players? We consider our players as our family and the family should be supported in every situation. That is what we did.
As far as the question of Vinesh joining the Congress is concerned, it is not right to comment on this without talking to her.
Q/ You stood by the wrestlers when they protested against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. How will the protest impact the elections?
A/ This issue has nothing to do with elections or politics. Women’s safety is an issue for the whole country. Every citizen stood with our wrestler daughters. Who does not want an impartial investigation on the allegations made by wrestlers and punishment for the culprits?
Q/ Are you the CM face of the Congress?
A/ This decision will be made by the people. They will elect the MLAs of the Congress. The MLAs and the high command will decide who will be the chief minister.
Q/ Is your son Deepender a CM probable?
A/ As I have already said, the people will decide this and then it will be up to the party MLAs and the high command.
Q/ The Congress looks like a divided house. Kumari Selja and Randeep Singh Surjewala are carrying out their own yatras.
A/ All the leaders are organising programmes in their own way to strengthen the party. Why does anyone see division or difference of opinion in this? The Congress is completely united. The BJP, in fact, is so badly divided in Haryana that you will not be able to count the factions. There is a faction of the new chief minister, the former chief minister has a separate faction. There is an Anil Vij faction, a Rao Inderjit faction and a Ram Bilas Sharma faction. Now, there is a faction of the MLAs who have come from the JJP. There is also a faction of former Congress leaders.
Q/ Will Kumari Selja be a candidate in the assembly polls?
A/ In a democracy, everyone has the right to contest elections. If she wishes, she can definitely contest the elections.
Q/ Will parties like the JJP, the INLD or the AAP split the votes?
A/ The people have not forgotten the betrayal by the JJP. They know the fight is between the Congress and the BJP. There is no place for vote cutters in the state. The INLD and the JJP are direct and indirect allies of the BJP. The public knows this. If any party contests the election with the intent of dividing the votes and thereby benefiting the BJP, the people will teach them a lesson.
Q/ Will Jat anger be a factor? The BJP is reaching out to other communities.
A/ We got almost 50 per cent votes in the Lok Sabha election. Are these votes of one or two communities? The Congress has won both the seats reserved for scheduled castes. So, with whom is the SC community?
The BJP ended the reservation for the OBCs by fixing the creamy layer at 06 lakh. By implementing Kaushal Nigam, they finished the jobs of dalits and backward classes. The BJP closed 5,000 government schools, impacting the education of their children. They stopped the scholarship scheme for children and the scheme wherein plots of 100 square yards were being given. Why will dalits and the backward classes vote for the BJP? Every section is eagerly waiting for the voting day to teach the BJP a lesson.
Q/ The Centre defends the Agniveer scheme.
A/ We are against the Agniveer scheme because it is in the interest of neither the country nor the youth. It is also not in the interest of the Army.
Q/ What will be the national impact of the Haryana elections?
A/ The momentum the Congress gained in the Lok Sabha elections will continue in Haryana. The victory in Haryana will further boost the morale of the party and create a wave in other states.
Q/ How do you view Rahul Gandhi’s role as the leader of the opposition?
A/ Rahul Gandhi is presenting an example of a very mature and effective leadership. The country truly needs a leadership which is fearless and in touch with the common man.