Ever since Rahul Gandhi has resigned from the post of the president of Congress, the Gandhi family has become increasingly irrelevant. Until now, this irrelevance was limited to the citizens, but now, it seems the Congress leaders too are refusing to acknowledge the ‘supremacy’ of the Gandhis. It has been reported that ahead of the mega rally of former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on August 18, the Gandhi clan is shockingly missing from the posters of Haryana Congress.
Legislative assembly elections are due to be held in November this year. Bhupinder Singh Hooda will be kick starting his election campaign with this rally. The posters of “workers conference” to be held on August 4 have photographs of Bhupinder Singh Hooda and his son Deepender Singh Hooda. These posters were flooded on social media, without the Gandhi family, which, otherwise has always been there in all Congress pamphlets and posters.
Fuelling suspicion, Hooda even refused to acknowledge or talk about the fact that the Gandhis are missing from the posters. He stated, “I don’t think it is appropriate for me to comment on the matter. I think that the question is not worth answering. What can be done about someone putting something on social media.”
The Legislative assembly elections are taking place a few months after the Lok Sabha elections in which Congress faced a calamitous defeat. The grand old party failed to even open its account in the state of Haryana; with the BJP sweeping all of Haryana’s 10 seats in the lower house of the Parliament. It seems that Bhupinder Singh Hooda blames the Gandhi family, primarily Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi for the embarrassing defeat and now has decided to go solo, without the “Gandhi” tag in the upcoming elections.
This is not the first time a state leader has towed this line contrary to the norm in the Congress party, that is the worship of the Gandhi family. Punjab CM Amarinder Singh is often at wits end with the Gandhis. His discord with the former minister in the Punjab cabinet, Navjot Singh Sidhu, is known to all. When it comes to the Sidhu situation, the Gandhis and Amarinder Singh have time and again been against each other. Sidhu has been openly disregarding Amarinder Singh’s authority and seeking validation from the Gandhis for these antics. The Gandhis in their part often side by Sidhu and after his resignation from the Punjab cabinet, are likely to offer him the plum post of the president of Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC).
Bhupinder Singh Hooda, the former Chief Minister of Haryana, is apparently taking a page from his neighbour’s book. The two are all set to share more than just a capital now. However, he seems to forget that while Amarinder Singh has a strong presence in the state, his own stature is quite weak. For a while, the void in the Congress leadership had perturbed Congress leaders across the country. However, the likes of Hooda have made use of this opportunity and instead of looking at the centre for leadership; they are keen to establish their own legacy. If this continues, soon the Congress will have multiple state leaders, and no binding central authority resulting into infighting and a disintegration of the party.
