Kumari Selja As Haryana Chief Minister? Congress’s Bhupinder Hooda Says…

New Delhi:

With exit polls predicting a Congress win in Haryana, the focus has moved to who would be the next Chief Minister.

Health warning: exit polls often get it wrong.

Former Chief Minister and Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda said if it comes to deciding the next Chief Minister, that’s a call the “high command” would take.

There are 90 seats in the Haryana assembly, so the halfway mark is 46. Most exit polls predicted the Congress would likely win between 44 and 61 seats.

Asked about senior leaders Kumari Selja and Randeep Surjewala also airing their chief ministerial ambitions, Hooda said, 

“We are expecting to win many more seats. Under the BJP, law and order has become worse, corruption has increased, and sports have not been spared too,” Mr Hooda told NDTV today.

On a question to a buzz about some Congress leaders working on a cabinet formation plan, Mr Hooda said, “The high command will decide. These are hypothetical questions.”

Senior leaders Kumari Selja and Randeep Surjewala have also made their chief ministerial ambitions known. On whether Ms Selja would become the next Chief Minister, Mr Hooda said, “This is democracy. Everybody should aspire. You can also aspire. But the MLAs will decide, the high command will decide.”

During a rally on September 27, Mr Hooda had predicted a “massive mandate” for the Congress in Haryana. He dismissed talks of infighting, and said the party would get more strength from having multiple claimants for the chief minister’s post.