Star Power
Film star Randeep Hooda spurns BJP overtures
The ruling BJP is scrambling for the right candidates in Haryana for the Lok Sabha elections. The party is trying hard to convince film star Randeep Hooda to fight the election on its ticket from Rohtak constituency, which is considered a stronghold of state Congress stalwart Bhupinder Singh Hooda. The party’s central leadership wants to shift its sitting MP Arvind Sharma to the neighbouring Sonipat as internal surveys have shown that he may lose from Rohtak.
He had won the last election by a narrow margin. The BJP MP from Sonipat has got embroiled in a sex scandal and may not be renominated for the seat. Sources said party leaders zeroed in on Randeep Hooda, who belongs to the Jat community, to replace Arvind Sharma in Rohtak. Before resigning as the Chief Minister, Manohar Lal Khattar spoke twice with Randeep and requested him to contest the election. But Randeep has refused saying he has no interest in politics and wants to concentrate on his career in films.
The party then asked BJP in charge of Haryana Biplab Deb to speak to him. But even he could not get the actor to change his mind. Randeep’s mother Asha Hooda lives in Gurgaon and is associated with the BJP. She is known to BJP leader Sudha Yadav, who was recently inducted into the party’s central parliamentary board.
Sources said that after the chief minister and the party in charge of Haryana failed to persuade Randeep, Sudha took it upon herself to bring him around. She met Randeep’s parents and told them that fighting election on a BJP ticket could make their son a bigger star and put his life on a better course. According to sources, even his parents have failed to get the actor to accept the BJP’s offer.
Haryana Hustle
Hooda tries to kill 3 birds with one stone
Haryana Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda is planning to completely sideline his opponents within the party in the current Lok Sabha elections. He has tactically proposed the name of film star Raj Babbar for the Gurgaon Lok Sabha seat, which is currently held by Rao Inderjit Singh of the BJP. According to sources, by proposing Babbar’s name, Hooda aims to achieve three objectives. One, deny the Gurgaon seat to his party adversary Captain Ajay Yadav.
Two, take away the Bhiwani-Mahendragarh constituency from former chief minister Bansi Lal’s family. Bansi Lal’s daughter-in-law Kiran Chawdhary is an MLA from one of the assembly constituencies of Bhiwani and her daughter Shruti Chowdhary has contested from the Lok Sabha constituency in the last three elections. Bhiwani Lok Sabha constituency has the second-largest Yadav population after Gurgaon. Hooda plans to give the seat to his supporter from the Yadav community, Rao Dan Singh, to compensate the Yadav community for the loss of Gurgaon. Hooda-Kiran rivalry is part of the state’s political folklore.
Kiran belongs to an anti-Hooda group widely referred to as ‘SRK’, which stands for (Kumari) Selja, Randeep (Surjewala) and Kiran. Once the Bhiwani seat, considered one of the four Jat constituencies of the state (the other three being Rohtak, Sonipat and Hissar) is given to a Yadav, a Jat candidate will have to be accommodated in another constituency. This is where Hooda plans to achieve his third objective. He wants to field his relative Karan Dalal, a Jat, from the Faridabad seat.
However, there is a hitch. Raj Babbar does not want to contest from Gurgaon. He is interested in fighting from Mumbai North-west constituency, which was earlier represented by actor Sunil Dutt. The Congress central leadership also does not appear inclined to force Babbar to fight from Gurgaon. As a result, the party may field Rao Dan Singh against Rao Inderjit Singh from Gurgaon and the Bansi Lal family may be able to retain Bhiwani. Hooda may find it difficult to swing even the Faridabad seat for Karan Dalal.