Hooda should have offered to resign: Selja

Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda took advantage of Congress president Sonia Gandhi's leniency and should offer to resign following the party's disastrous performance in the recent Lok Sabha polls, party leader Kumari Selja said Monday.

"A lot of things need to change... a lot has gone wrong in the state in the last few years. It has been dismal... we really did not think we will end up so badly in the state... something has gone wrong and accountability should be fixed," Selja told a news channel.

"There should be introspection at the state level... he (Hooda) should certainly have offered to resign and shown the people that he does own up some responsibility," the former social justice and empowerment minister said.

The Congress bagged just one of the 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana under Hooda's leadership while the Bharatiya Janata Party won seven.

Asked about Hooda's alleged authoritarian working style, Selja said the chief minister does not encourage views that differ from his and that Sonia Gandhi did try to discipline him.

"But she is a democrat to a point because she does give a long rope to people," she said.

Asked if Hooda took advantage of Sonia Gandhi's leniency, Selja said "clearly".

She further said it was difficult to have a change of leadership in Haryana with only a few months to go before the assembly polls.

"I don't know what changes could be effective at all but clearly he should have come to the forefront and communicated with the workers," she said.