Hooda, Haryana, tennis and exit polls

Haryana is waiting with bated breath; who will be the next chief minister of the state? Will BJP make government own its own, will INLD will be the single largest party or will there be a coalition government? These were not easy questions to answer until various pollsters made it easy to decipher the highest ever voting percentage. Chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who ruled the state for 10 years, was seen playing tennis with his classmates at the CM house, where he lived for 10 years happily. In all these years Hooda made tennis his favourite pastime, he made no bones about his love for the game. His energy, his vitality perhaps came from the game, he always claimed. It may be his last few days at the CM house. He will perhaps miss the tennis court, which he made for great care. I remember my numerous interactions with Hooda, while he was simply an MP and after he became CM. Hooda looked to me as a hardworking politician, who was keen to make change. But he always appeared to be a weak administrator. Many politicians berate his achievements but I find that Hooda has already made his mark in state politics. I go back to the days when Bhajanlal was the tallest leader of the party not the Hooda. He managed to sideline him and finish his entire clan with great smartness. He dealt with many senior politicians, who were his adversaries. Kuldeep Bishnoi lost his sheen after he departed from congress. Birender Singh quit the party. Rao Birender Singh, too, left the congress after his rather prolonged the party. Those who survived in congress were Kumari Selja, Randeep Surjewal and Kiran Choudhary but they were not so vocal, not a great political threat. As a politician Hooda has been greatly successful but as a chief Minister his achievements will be questioned.