CHANDIGARH: After Congress staged a strong comeback, winning five of 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana, former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda had emerged as the man of the moment for his party. Now, his inability to secure a majority for Congress to return to office in Haryana after a 10-year hiatus is likely to have a major impact on his political career , especially as his detractors have already started criticising his leadership. Given a free hand in ticket distribution and to lead the poll campaign, Hooda managed to get tickets for 72 of his loyalists but Congress fell short of the 46 seats needed to form govt.
In 2019, Hooda's supporters and aides had said that had he been given full control of ticket distribution he could have ensured Congress's return in Haryana. In that election, Congress fell just 15 seats short of forming govt; this time, it was nine seats from a comeback. The results of the latest state polls have provided Congress's central leadership with a compelling reason to reassess and re-strategise.
Hooda's critics within Congress have pointed to his centralisation of power in the state unit leadership as a key contributor to the setback. They argue that the departure of senior netas like Kiran Chaudhary & Kuldeep Bishnoi from the party in the recent past (they had accused Hooda of monopolising control) has now become a focal point for renewed criticism. Haryana Jammu & Kashmir Haryana Alliance View i Party View Seats: 90 Results Majority: 46 BJP 48 CONG 37 INLD 2 A.
