Man who defeated Devi Lal thrice

CHANDIGARH: The latest star of Haryana politics, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, is fond of listing his father Ch Ranbir Singh''s credentials — member of the Constituent Assembly, Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha MP, state minister, MLA and even MLC.
Now this 1947-born son, famous for defeating Devi Lal thrice in a row at Rohtak, is set to become the state''s next CM, battering yet another Lal in a bitter intra-party turf war that broke out after Congress swept the polls. A four-time MP, Hooda has been an arch-rival of Bhajan Lal — a stance that has endeared him to the Rohtak Jat belt.
Hooda, known to Haryanvis as "Bhupi," was virtually unknown till early 1991, even though he was involved in politics, being senior vice-president and then president of Haryana Youth Congress between 1980 and 1983.
He took his first tentative steps into mainstream politics in the 1987 Assembly elections, when he lost from Kiloi. Many in Haryana remembered him better as Ch Ranbir Singh''s advocate son who practised law in Rohtak courts till early 1991.
In 1991, it was Ch Birender Singh who, as Haryana Congress president, got Hooda the Lok Sabha ticket from Rohtak. Hooda took on then deputy PM Devi Lal, defeating him by over 30,000 votes to make history, a feat which he repeated in 1996 and 1998.
In 1997, when Hooda became president of Haryana Congress, he was expected to cut into INLD''s Jat votebank. Under Bhajan Lal''s leadership in 1996, the Congress tally had plunged to nine. Hooda is often held responsible for the politically fatal decision of backing Bansi Lal''s government in 1999 after the BJP withdrew support.
Hooda remained PCC president for six years and his opponents often quoted the lacklustre performance of the party during this time to pull him down. When he was given the ticket for 2004 LS elections from Rohtak, there was much glee in the Bhajan camp as they counted him out of state politics. Hooda won by 1.5 lakh votes despite all-out efforts by opponents.