By Jaideep Sarin, IANS,
Chandigarh : For a politician who faces assembly elections only months later, Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda is sitting pretty. He is so confident of retaining power in the battle for the 90-member legislature that he refuses to announce populist measures that could fetch him many more votes.
“I never do anything keeping elections in mind. My government has taken a number of steps for the welfare of the people. People are satisfied, and I am happy and satisfied,” Hooda told IANS in an interview at his residence here.
“When I was taking decisions (earlier in my tenure), there were people who asked me why I was doing all this when elections were still far away. But I don’t do things keeping an eye on elections,” he said.
Although assembly elections in Haryana are scheduled only in February next year, there are high chances that they might be advanced to October or November this year.
Hooda’s confidence stems from the fact that the Congress in Haryana bagged nine out of 10 Lok Sabha seats in May this year.
“There is a possibility of early elections,” Hooda said. “This could be in October with other states (like
Maharashtra). People are satisfied (with my government). Let’s see.”
At home on a rainy day at his official residence, his morning game of tennis washed away, a very relaxed Hooda does not give the impression of a chief minister who is just weeks away from elections.
“I missed the game (of tennis) due to the rain. It was raining heavily, otherwise I would have gone to the (Sukhna) lake for a walk,” said Hooda, clad in a kurta and lungi.
Not only do the Hooda government and Congress party look strong, but by various accounts the opposition parties and its leaders in Haryana seem to be in disarray.
The main opposition Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) of former chief minister Om Prakash Chautala has been abandoned by senior leaders. Former finance minister Sampat Singh quit the INLD last month. Most of those leaving the INLD are joining the Congress.
Hooda insists that these leaders are joining the Congress “without conditions”. Some Congress leaders are however upset that “outsiders” have been accommodated in the party.
In the Lok Sabha elections, the Congress led in 60 assembly seats while the INLD was ahead only in five seats. The Bharatiya Janata Party (an INLD ally), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Haryana Janhit Congress of former chief minister Bhajan Lal were in the lead in other seats.
Opposition leaders, including Chautala and Bhajan Lal, look disheartened.That allows Hooda to be magnanimous: “I don’t work with vengeance. I don’t believe in taking revenge.”
Will he be the chief minister again? It is for the party to decide, he said. “Everyone has the potential (to be chief minister).”
Hooda attributes the popularity of his government to development work done for the people of Haryana.
“I assumed office with inherent problems. On the power front, we are adding four new power plants with a capacity of 5,000 MW. In the last 40 years (Haryana was created in 1966), no power plant was added. In two years, we will be in a position to generate surplus power,” he asserted.
Haryana is also seeking a nuclear power plant.
Denying that only that part of Haryana which falls in the National Capital Region (NCR) around Delhi was getting preference for industrial investments, Hooda said that 70 backward blocks had been identified across the state for industrial development.
The government had launched initiatives in education, technology, social welfare and other fields too, he said.
(Jaideep Sarin can be contacted at [email protected])