Will not fight LS polls, son Deepender likely to contest: Bhupinder Hooda

The final decision on the matter will be taken by the party, Hooda added

Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Tuesday ruled out the possibility of him contesting the Lok Sabha elections and said a discussion was on within the party about fielding his son Deepender Singh Hooda from the Rohtak seat.

"There is no intention that both of us will fight. I am also the Leader of the Opposition (in Haryana) and the Assembly polls are nearing. So I don't have any intention (to fight the parliamentary election)," the former Haryana chief minister told reporters in Rohtak.

Replying to a question, the senior Congress leader said discussion is on within the party about fielding Deepender Singh Hooda from the Rohtak parliamentary seat.

He said that he does not have any intention to fight the Lok Sabha polls when Deepender enters the fray. The final decision on the matter will be taken by the party, he added.

Bhupinder Singh Hooda said if senior party leaders, Randeep Singh Surjewala or Kumari Selja, decide to fight the Lok Sabha polls "we will be happy".

Notably, Bhupinder Singh Hooda unsuccessfully contested the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from Sonipat while his son Deepender also lost from Rohtak. At present, Deepender Singh Hooda is a Rajya Sabha MP from Haryana.

When asked how soon can one expect the Congress to name its Lok Sabha candidates from Haryana, Bhupinder Singh Hooda said the party's screening committee will meet soon.

"I am hopeful that the party will release names of candidates in the next few days".

Polling for the 10 parliamentary seats in Haryana will be held on May 25 in the sixth of the seven-phase general elections.

In Kurukshetra, Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini took a dig at the Congress' state unit, saying that "big leaders are running away from the contest. Somewhere they are sensing defeat".

Indian National Lok Dal senior leader Abhay Singh Chautala said, "Neither the BJP nor the Congress have candidates. Had it been so, the BJP would not have been giving tickets to people who joined the party only 30 minutes before," Abhay said.

Notably, industrialist and former Congress MP Naveen Jindal and Independent MLA Ranjit Chautala, joined the BJP on Sunday and were named as the party's candidates from Kurukshetra and Hisar Lok Sabha seats, respectively.

Earlier, the BJP announced the candidature of Ashok Tanwar from Sirsa Lok Sabha seat. Tanwar, a former Haryana Congress president, joined the BJP after switching over from AAP recently.