After his party lost power in Haryana in the 2014 polls, the 72-year-old satrap had nothing going in his favour.
President Droupadi Murmu, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud, Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi and several other famous faces were seen at polling booths, exercising their franchise in the sixth phase of the Lok Sabha polls on Saturday.
As the Bharatiya Janata Party looks set to retain Haryana, the Congress' poll campaign, which was built around various issues including unemployment, farmers' plight and Agnipath scheme, appeared to have failed to click with a majority of the voters.
Union minister and BJP leader Smriti Irani said it was "absolutely shocking" to see the former Haryana chief minister sitting calmly on a tractor while having woman members of his party pulling it physically.
Sources said the party has also tasked its senior leaders to be observers at the meeting of the Congress Legislature Party in Haryana to elect its new leader.
The Congress on Monday released a list of 30-star campaigners for the first phase of the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections.
'The BJP, which did not stand with the people of the state during the natural disaster, now wants to push the state into political disaster'
Hours after the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party put out its first list of 67 candidates for the Haryana Assembly polls, sitting MLA Lakshman Dass Napa quit the party while former minister Karan Dev Kamboj stepped down as state unit's OBC Morcha chief after being denied tickets.
The situation on Monday was tense but under control in Rohtak's Karontha village where three persons were killed and about 100 others in a clash between two groups over an ashram even as Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda ordered a magisterial probe into the violence.
As per the latest trends, the BJP and Congress is neck-and-neck with 35 seats. The fledgling JJP, which fought its maiden assembly polls, is also ahead in 10 seats.
The Congress has proposed AAP should contest five seats while the Samajwadi Party and Left parties could contest one seat each.
Rebel Congress leader Chaudhary Birender Singh on Saturday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in the presence of its chief Amit Shah at a rally, ending his over four-decade association with the party in poll-bound Haryana.
Hitting out at Narendra Modi and Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal on Friday alleged they were snatching land from farmers and giving it to industrialists.
Babaria said he offered his resignation to the high command soon after the result of the Haryana assembly polls came out last week but no decision has been communicated to him over the matter.
Continuing his tirade against the Congress leaders, he said that like others, he never compromises when it comes to patriotism and self-respect.
The group is also reported to be seeking the ouster of some Rahul Gandhi loyalists from key AICC positions and top on their target are AICC general secretary Organisation K C Venugopal, chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala and general secretary Ajay Maken.
Three private gunmen hired by Rathee for security also suffered injuries in the attack.
Claiming the Congress leadership had ignored issues raised by him, Lok Sabha MP from Gurgoan Rao Inderjit Singh has trained his guns on Robert Vadra and Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. Anita Katyal reports.
Jannayak Janta Party leader Dushyant Chautala on Thursday said his party is ready to support the Congress in the Rajya Sabha election and ruled out any alliance with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Haryana before or after the next assembly polls.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Monday questioned former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda in connection with alleged irregularities in the allotment of 14 industrial plots at Panchkula, by Haryana Urban Development Authority.
Haryana Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki has sought response from Bhupinder Singh Hooda government on the Bharatiya Janata Party's demand for cancellation of recent controversial appointments by the chief minister.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday said the views of the newly-elected MLAs in Himachal Pradesh were being sought to bring out a consensus on who will be their leader.
Hooted by Bharatiya Janata Party workers in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi early this week, Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Sunday hit back asking people to avenge the "insult" meted out to the state through the ballot in upcoming assembly polls.
Earlier, only Azad was scheduled to meet Sonia Gandhi.
The three MLAs -- Sombir Sangwan, Randhir Gollen and Dharampal Gonder -- also said that they have decided to extend support to the Congress during the elections.
Wrestlers' protest take political colour, farmer leaders also support athletes
Deepinder Singh Hooda, son of Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, won the Rohtak Lok Sabha seat defeating his nearest rival Abhimanyu of the Bhartiya Janata Party by a margin of 2,32,098 votes.
The country's top wrestlers, including Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia, have been protesting since April 23, demanding criminal action against WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
The results of the assembly elections will be announced on October 8.
Congress general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh said like other states, the BJP started the game of using money power, power of the government and muscle power to destabilise the Congress government in Himachal Pradesh but has failed.
Veteran party leader Anil Vij will seek re-election from his Ambala Cantt stronghold.
Khattar, who represented the Karnal seat, said newly appointed Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini will take care of the constituency now.
Going for status quo, the Congress named Ashok Chavan and Bhupinder Singh Hooda as leaders of its legislature parties in Maharashtra and Haryana, clearing the decks for their return as chief ministers even as Arunachal strongman Dorjee Khandu was on Sunday sworn in for a second consecutive term in the state's top post.
The sources said that Priyanka Gandhi remained in constant touch with the party president, the chief minister, ministers and all important leaders, and did not allow any laxity.
'There is some deep rot that has set in the Congress party. This requires an organisational surgery.'
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal who was under fire from Bharatiya Janata Party leaders after the Shiromani Akali Dal leadership, including Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal campaigned against the saffron party nominees during the assembly elections attended the oath-taking ceremony of Manohar Lal Khattar in Panchkula on Sunday.
Haryana is witnessing a multi-cornered contest this time, with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party facing anti-incumbency and a resurgent Congress.
Sharma's remark came a day after Grover and some other BJP leaders were held up for hours inside a temple complex in Rohtak's Kiloi as several villagers and farmers staged a protest outside.
The Aam Aadmi Party will fight the 2024 Haryana assembly polls on its own, its state unit vice-president Anurag Dhanda said on Friday, saying the party has a complete organisational structure ready and will soon announce its village-level committees too.
Amidst an uproar over the Ruchika molestation issue, Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Saturday said the entire case against former Director General of Police S P S Rathore should be revisited. "After examining (the case) legally, I think it should be revisited. I am fully sympathising with the family (of Ruchika)," said Hooda.Rathore has been sentenced to six months imprisonment for molesting 14-year-old Ruchika 19 years ago.
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