NEW DELHI: WITH less than 24 hours left for the Haryana assembly election results to be announced, the Congress party hopes to celebrate an early Diwali, going by the exit polls. However, it has an uphill task at hand —to nail down a chief minister’s name from among multiple contenders and to contain the party’s problem of infighting. The exit polls on Saturday forecast a smooth win for the Congress with most pollsters predicting 55 of Haryana’s 90 seats – comfortably ahead of the halfway mark of 46.Even as the exit polls were out, hectic parleys began in the Congress camp to decide the next Chief Minister. Among the CM hopefuls are Rajya Sabha MP and ex-Union minister Kumari Selja, former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda, his son and Lok Sabha MP Deepender Singh Hooda, Rajya Sabha MP and AICC general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala, and state Congress chief Udai Bhan, a Hooda loyalist.Bhupinder Singh Hooda left for Delhi on Sunday evening where he will hold a meeting with the party leadership. On Monday, the veteran leader is likely to meet the senior leadership before he returns to his Rohtak residence.His arch-rival Selja, a prominent Dalit face of the party, has not shied away from projecting herself as the CM candidate.Asked who would be the CM if the Congress comes to power, Hooda on Saturday reiterated that there is a laid down procedure in the party, according to which “the opinion of the MLAs will be sought and the high command will decide”.
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