Senior Congress leader and former Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Tuesday said that he will not contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Hooda said that the Congress is discussing the possibility of fielding his son and Rajya Sabha MP Deepender Singh Hooda from Rohtak.
"There is no intention that both of us will fight. I am also the Leader of the Opposition (in Haryana) and the Assembly polls are nearing. So, I don't have any intention (to fight the parliamentary election)," news agency PTI quoted the former Haryana CM as saying.
He added that he does not have any intention to contest the upcoming general elections when Deepender enters the fray. Any final decision regarding the same will be taken by the party, he noted.
The former CM also said that "we will be happy" if senior leaders such as Randeep Singh Surjewala or Kumari Selja decide to fight the Lok Sabha polls. While Bhupinder Singh Hooda lost the polls from Sonipat, his son Deepender lost from Rohtak. At present, Deepender Singh Hooda is a Rajya Sabha MP from Haryana.
He furthermore said that the party's screening committee will meet soon and release the names of its candidates from Haryana. "I am hopeful that the party will release names of candidates in the next few days," he said. Polling on the 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana will take place in a single phase on May 25.
BJP, INLD trade barbs, Naveen Jindal joins saffron party
Soon after Hooda's announcement, Haryana CM Nayan Singh Saini said that big Congress leaders "are running away from the contest. Somewhere they are sensing defeat."
Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) leader Abhay Singh Chautala said: "Neither the BJP nor the Congress have candidates. Had it been so, the BJP would not have been giving tickets to people who joined the party only 30 minutes before."
Previously, industrialist and ex-Congress MP Naveen Jindal joined the BJP on Sunday and was named the saffron party's candidate from Kurukshetra.
Is the Congress house in order?
Bhupinder Singh Hooda's announcement of not contesting the elections is not the only challenge that the Congress party is facing.
The Congress party is also witnessing internal conflicts in multiple states as Lok Sabha Elections 2024 approach. This infighting is evident in the party's units in Himachal Pradesh, West Bengal, Assam, and Punjab amongst others.
In Himachal Pradesh, six MLAs voted for a BJP candidate, leading to a crisis in the Congress-led government. Prominent leader Vikramaditya Singh resigned as minister, citing neglect of MLAs.
In Bihar, two Congress MLAs, Siddharth Saurav and Murari Gautam, switched to the BJP-led NDA, leading to the party seeking their disqualification.
In Assam, Rana Goswami, the state's Congress working president resigned and is expected to join the BJP.
In West Bengal, Congress leader Koustav Bagchi resigned, criticising the party's shift in focus from electoral victory to image branding.
In Punjab, amidst the political crisis, Navjot Singh Sidhu called for an evaluation of the party's 'assets and liabilities'. Reports suggest Sidhu and three other MLAs are considering joining the BJP.
In Maharashtra, Milind Deora resigned from the primary membership of Congress, ending his family's 55-year association with the party. This was followed by resignations from Baba Siddique and former Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, who joined the BJP.