Why Hooda? Cong looking beyond state

NEW DELHI: By denying the chief ministership of Haryana for a fourth term to Bhajan Lal, Congress has not only avoided giving a controversial figure the top job in the midst of the mess it has found itself in elsewhere, but may also have thought beyond the boundaries of the state.
Congress said the move to anoint Jat leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda as the CM is part of a larger move to fill the breach in the Congress support among Jats in Rajasthan and western UP.
It is being felt within the party that Ajit Singh''s influence over the Jats does not go beyond the confines of his own constituency, Baghpat. Hence, the party urgently needs a substitute who can exert a pan Jatland influence, of which it finds a potential in Hooda. For, he had vanquished the tall Jat figure Devi Lal thrice from the Rohtak parliamentary constituency.
The party is also striving to cash in on the perceived decline in the popularity of Om Prakash Chautala among the Jats, as indicated in the results of the February 3 assembly elections. Congress feels that Chautala is now passe. It also dismisses his two sons as not having the capacity to be able to restore the legacy Devi Lal left behind.
The induction of a Jat leader in Haryana may also be part of a contingency plan for a possible change of leadership in Punjab, which has been expected for many months now. The party may not want to have two Jat leaders leading governments in adjoining states.