Amid speculation that former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda could part ways with the Congress over the State leadership issue at a rally in Rohtak on Sunday, he announced the formation of a 25-member committee to decide on the issue ahead of the Assembly Election in Haryana due later this year.
Keeping his fellow party leaders and supporters guessing, Mr. Hooda, addressing Parivartan Maharally at the Mela Ground here, said it was an important decision and he did not want to decide in haste. “It’s not just me, but the future of my supporters is also linked with it. I, therefore, will form a committee of 25 members, including the 13 MLAs supporting me, to deliberate on it. I would go by their advice,” Mr. Hooda, announced amid loud cheers.
He, however, said the Congress was not the same party any more and had lost its way.
Earlier, Palwal MLA Karan Dalal had suggested that Mr. Hooda should give one last opportunity to the high command to decide on his long-pending demand for a change in State leadership before quitting the party.
Both, Mr. Hooda and his son Deepender Singh, former Rohtak Lok Sabha member, reiterated their stand supporting the abrogation of Article 370 on the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.
“Our soldiers from Haryana lay their lives in Jammu and Kashmir, so I supported the scrapping of Article 370, though many friends in Congress opposed it. There can be no compromise on national interest and self-respect,” said Mr. Hooda. He added that BJP could not hide behind Article 370 and the party would have to give its report card for the past five years.
In the run-up to the rally, Congress leaders belonging to the Hooda-camp had been speaking to the media hinting that the former Chief Minister could quit the party to float his own outfit or join other political parties in the State.
Following the rally, sources in the party said Mr. Hooda felt that he was best placed to fight the BJP while being in the Congress and was unlikely to quit. He, however, has kept his options open by announcing to form a committee on the issue.
List of promises
If voted to power, Mr. Hooda promised to increase the old-age pension to ₹5,000 per month, implement the Seventh Pay Commission recommendations in full, allow free rides for women on Haryana roadways, give free power to farmers with up to two-acre land holdings and pay the State government employees at par with their Punjab counterparts.