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On the eve of the Haryana assembly poll results, the issue of chief minister-ship has taken centre stage in the Congress with all eyes on its high command's next move as the party expects to regain power after 10 years in the state.
Although the Congress, unlike in 2019, gave the former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda a free hand in finalising majority candidates and formulating election strategy, another heavyweight and Dalit leader from Haryana Kumari Selja has thrown her hat in the ring, queering the pitch for the Jat stalwart.
In a move uncharacteristic of her, All India Congress Committee general secretary and Lok Sabha MP Selja has publicly staked claim to the CM's post and said the high command will take the final call on who will lead the state should the party win on Tuesday.
Hooda on the other hand in his latest remarks has said that the MLAs' opinion will be taken and the final decision of the central leadership will be acceptable to all.
Another senior leader Randeep Surjewala, who is also the party general secretary and a Rajya Sabha member, has stated that the party high command will decide the chief minister, even though he has not staked claim.
Bhupinder Hooda's son Deepender Hooda, the Congress' Rohtak MP, is also not ruled as a potential candidate by a section of the party.
If recent trends are anything to go by, the Congress, under party president Mallikarjun Kharge, has chosen to honour mass leaders on the issue of chief ministership.
If this trend holds, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who had a say in selecting over 70 of the 90 party candidates in Haryana, would be the evident choice for the top job should exit poll results translate into reality.
Having learnt the lessons of neglecting regional satraps in the past, the Congress has of late been taking a conscious call to install mass leaders in power positions.
In Himachal Pradesh, the party chose Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu as chief minister despite parallel claims made by state unit chief Pratibha Singh, who reminded the party of her late husband and ex-CM Virbhadra Singh's legacy.
In Karnataka, the party settled for Siddaramaiah, the popular leader of the state, over his more resourceful and financially influential competitor D K Shivakumar, who had to make do with the deputy CM's position.
Again in Telangana, the Congress favoured Revanth Reddy, a leader with mass appeal, while choosing the CM and resisted pressures from another senior leader and claimant Uttam Kumar Reddy, whose closeness to Rahul Gandhi is well known.
Earlier, the party went for senior leader Ashok Gehlot in Rajasthan while ignoring the claim of former state unit chief Sachin Pilot, who was made his deputy.
"There is no cause for confusion on who the CM would be should the Congress make the cut in Haryana as we are expecting," said a senior functionary adding that Hooda, whose will prevailed in the selection of candidates, is a 'natural claimant' to the position.
The source said other claimants can have their names proposed, but the final call would be taken by the party leadership after weighing the larger opinion of MLAs.
"Since most MLAs have been selected by B S Hooda, it is natural as to who will prevail in the power game should we come to that, as exit polls are clearly predicting a Congress victory," said another Congress leader.
Selja, on the other hand, is playing the woman card and that of Dalit leadership, while staking her claim on the top post in Haryana.
With the party of late riding on the Dalit card across the country while running the 'Save Constitution' campaign, Selja has dug in her heels while banking on this sentiment.
Rahul Gandhi has also given her a patient hearing recently and met her at 10, Janpath.
The attempt, many feel, was to pacify her after she skipped the poll campaign in the state. She has been seen prominently at all public meetings, along with Rahul Gandhi recently.