Even as Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda met Congress president Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi on Satur-day amidst talk in change of leadership, his detractor Chaudhary Birender Singh said there was little possibility of change.
“There is no official confirmation regarding Hooda. I have 42 years of experience in the Congress and aware of the party’s culture. There would be no change in the leadership,” Singh told The Pioneer.
He, however, said after the humiliating defeat of the Congress, which lost nine seats out of 10 in the lok Sabha elections, change of guard is a must for the revival of the party.
“There is need not only to replace the top person (Hooda) but to reshuffle the entire body. We have conveyed our feelings to Rahul Gandhi in a recent meeting in Delhi”, said Singh.
Asked if leadership is changed who should be the next leader of the party during state assembly elections, Singh advocated someone from the dominant Jat community, from which he hails from. “Jat factor in Haryana cannot be ignored in elections,” said Singh, himself a contender for the CM’s post.
“There are 30 to 60 per cent Jats in 37 Assembly constituencies out of 90. How can you ignore the Jat factor,” justified Singh.
Asked whether Haryana Cabinet Minister Randeep Singh Surjewala, who is also Jat could be a possible replacement, Singh said he was junior in politics and still quite immature with no standing or base in the State.
On Hooda, Singh said, “being Jat, Hooda could rule for 10 years in Haryana, otherwise, he has no sense to rule and has limited vision”. Referring to the Assembly elections in the State, the Rajya Sabha member said time is less and the State Congress is yet to form its executive body.