where he openly expressed his dismay and said: “The Congress has lost its way (bhatak gayee).” Hooda added that the party was “no longer the old Congress”. While speaking at the rally, he also backed the Centre’s decision of revoking Article 370.

However, though the rally was being touted as the beginning of the Assembly poll campaign, political observers said that it was a show of strength as Bhupinder Singh Hooda wants total control over the party in the state ahead of the Assembly polls.

Although the central leadership is almost silent on the ongoing infighting, Congress state unit president Ashok Tanwar has been coming out in public to criticise Bhupinder Hooda’s stand. Hooda has been holding Tanwar’s alleged inefficiency as the reason for the repeated loss of the partyin the state. However, Tanwar has blamed the nationwide decline of Congress for the repeated defeats in the state.

Bhupinder Singh Hooda is considered to be the strongest Congress leader in Haryana as he has the support of 13 legislators out of 17 incumbent legislators of the party in Haryana. With a split in the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), Bhupinder Singh Hooda is the most prominent Opposition face in Haryana who still has a large mass base in the state.

The Bharatiya Janata Party swept Haryana in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, winning all the 10 seats there. BJP’s vote share significantly increased compared to 2014. Hooda himself and his son Deepender Singh Hooda, were defeated from Sonepat and Rohtak, respectively.

Despite losing his own seat from Sonipat in the