By Jaideep Sarin, IANS
Chandigarh : It is a move that could impact the course of Haryana politics in the coming days.
As ‘dissident’ father-son duo – former chief minister Bhajan Lal and his MP son Kuldeep Bishnoi – prepare the ground for their rally in Rohtak town Dec 2, speculation is rife in the state’s ruling Congress on whether the duo will finally call it quits from the party.
When asked about a new party being floated by Bhajan Lal, Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda joked, “My information is that a tea party is being formed!”
Bhajan Lal, a Congress legislator, has his reasons to be upset with the party since he was unceremoniously pipped to the post of chief minister March 2005 by Hooda after having led the party to one of its biggest victories in the assembly polls.
His MP son Bishnoi has been openly defiant against Congress president Sonia Gandhi and the Hooda government on various issues, including the setting up of special economic zones (SEZs).
The father-son duo announced its decision in August this year to organise a political rally at Rohtak, Hooda’s hometown, to test the waters there. While Lal comes from Hissar district, Bishnoi is the sitting Congress MP from the Bhiwani Lok Sabha seat. Bishnoi was suspended from the Congress earlier this year for his open defiance against Sonia Gandhi and Hooda.
The duo is keeping its cards on the formation of a new political party close to the chest till the Dec 2 rally.
Another speculation is that Bhajan Lal might not float a new party altogether but set up a forum of like-minded Congress leaders (read dissidents) within the party to make things difficult for Hooda.
The second option seems more appropriate for Bhajan Lal at the moment given the strong support that Hooda enjoys from Sonia Gandhi and his established hold within the ruling Congress in Haryana.
Bhajan Lal’s own elder son, Chander Mohan, who was made deputy chief minister to assuage the former’s feelings after being denied chief ministership in the state, has in the recent months distanced himself politically from his father even though they live in the same private bungalow in Panchkula near here.
State Congress leaders have openly started daring Bhajan Lal and Bishnoi to quit the party and test their popularity in elections. But the duo seems to be in no mood to oblige detractors.
Both want the Congress to expel them so that they do not get disqualified from their assembly and Lok Sabha seats respectively. An expulsion will also create an impression that they have made a sacrifice on principle.
Bishnoi has been quite vocal about his criticism of the Hooda government regarding SEZs, especially the ones being set up by the Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance group. He has openly accused Hooda and his government of taking bribes for selling the interests of Haryana in the name of development through SEZ projects.
But Bhajan Lal, the shrewd politician that he is despite his age, has taken the fight within the Congress right into Hooda’s citadel by holding the rally in Rohtak town. Rohtak is not only the hometown of Hooda but is also the Lok Sabha constituency of his son Deepinder Hooda.
Political activity of almost all groups has picked up in Haryana since September this year.
The opposition Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) led by Om Prakash Chautala organised a big rally in Ambala Sep 23, inviting leaders like Mulayam Singh Yadav, N. Chandrababu Naidu and Parkash Singh Badal.
Hooda has got three rallies organised in recent months that were addressed by Sonia Gandhi. Two of these rallies, one in Jhajjar district in October and one at Bhiwani Wednesday, drew good crowds.
The INLD is planning a Dalit rally in the state next month while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which does not have mass presence in the state, is planning a rally at Rohtak in the last week of December.