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Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Amarinder Singh may quit Congress, form new party

Seven months after the worst ever defeat in the Lok Sabha polls and an abysmal performance in state elections, Congress leaders are getting restive about their high command more particularly about vice president Rahul Gandhi. Speculations are rife, that two important party leaders of North Indian states have expressed displeasure at being bypassed in party decisions and are actively considering to leave the party. Notables among them are former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Captain Amarinder Singh, who is also former chief minister of Punjab. Speculations are rife within party circles, that both these leaders might be preparing ground to leave party. It is believed that Capt Singh, who failed to oust state Congress unit chief Pratap Singh Bajwa is now consulting his colleagues to float a regional party. But the party is worried more about the plans of Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who had been allegedly protecting Congress president Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra on his improper land deals. Hooda had organised a workers' meeting at Rohtak as a sort of revolt against state Congress chief Ashok Tanwar, a Rahul Gandhi protege, and Congress legislature party leader Kiran Chaudhry. At the Congress headquarters, this meeting is seen as a warning signal from Hooda that the leadership cannot ignore him to promote other leaders in the state. The cause of worry for the leadership is that 14 of the 15 sitting Congress MLAs in the state, turned up at the meeting to be counted as part of the Hooda camp. The former chief minister's supporters say they may be even compelled to launch a new political party if Hooda is ignored and others are promoted who have neither the mass base nor the organisational support. Having remained the chief minister for two terms, Hooda was seen telling senior Congress leaders during his frequent trips to the Parliament House, last month, that he has nursed the party all his life and hence if the party wants a new face as the future CM, it can be his MP son Deepender and no one else. While in the neighbouring state of Punjab, Congress leaders there say, due to infighting and promotion of some leaders without any mass base, the party was unable to take the advantage of anti-incumbency wave against the Akali-BJP combine government. Capt Amarinder, who is a contender for the PPCC post is baying the blood of Pratap Singh Bajwa. During his visit to Punjab two months ago, Rahul had snubbed the Captain along with other dissidents for raising a revolt against Bajwa.
http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-bhupinder-singh-hooda-amarinder-singh-leaving-congress-2049397
Posted

i think these two are doing a narayan rane. Its interesting that Hooda is effectively using the Vadra deals as a source of blackmail against the Gandhis. Make my son the congress leader or else i shall spill the beans.... Amrinder will be 75 for the next punjab elections. Bhupinder 72. Congress should call Amrinder's bluff and install a new young dynamic leader. Punjab is one state the Congress should be able to win. Its pretty even at the moment. Anti incumbancy will come into it in 2017.

Posted
i think these two are doing a narayan rane. Its interesting that Hooda is effectively using the Vadra deals as a source of blackmail against the Gandhis. Make my son the congress leader or else i shall spill the beans.... Amrinder will be 75 for the next punjab elections. Bhupinder 72. Congress should call Amrinder's bluff and install a new young dynamic leader. Punjab is one state the Congress should be able to win. Its pretty even at the moment. Anti incumbancy will come into it in 2017.
Hope Congress disintegrates itself and something like an AAP takes the role of the main opposition
Posted

Surprised about Amarinder Singh. Isn't he their Deputy Leader in the LS? It will be very embarrassing for Congress if that were to occur. As it is, you only have 44 members in there and if your Deputy Leader in the House, who was your only candidate that defeated a BJP big-wig, also ends up leaving the party, then this would be a serious embarrassment.

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Congress would hardly be concerned on it. The biggest embarrassment of getting 44 seats in LS, didn't make them change anything. It was expected that Congress would look to slowly reduce the dependance of the Gandhi family by bringing new grassroots leaders. But as it turns out the it is only increasing and now effectively, it's a party where only Rahul loyalists are welcomed, else you are free to leave.

Posted

i think whats happening is people in their 40s might be willing to stick to the congress. If your maybe more than 65 you are looking at your future. Maybe you dont have the time to ride through the BJP times. I will be surprised if Pilot or Scindia defect or form own outfits. If they decide to split then its pretty much over for the congress. I read a report whereby the congress middle ranking members are looking at 10 years out of power. After that they expect the congress to bounce back. In that time these leaders like Ashok Chavan, Scindia , Pilot etc are looking to bide their time and push out the oldies.

Posted

Cash-strapped Congress struggles to stay afloat; Karnataka offers sole bright spot

Read more at:NEW DELHI: Don't fly unless it's absolutely unavoidable. Take trains. Chartered flights must be a rarity. Fuel allowances will be cut down, as will be money for daily expenses. In general, try spending as little money as possible. This isn't pre-budget austerity message from Modi Sarkar to GoI babus. This is a crisis call from the leadership of Congress, a party that's been getting beaten in poll battles by Narendra Modi. The grand old party is, by its own exalted cash-flow standards, facing a cash crunch. And ET has learnt, after talking to several Congress heavyweights, that party treasurer Motilal Vora has told AICC general secretaries in a meeting earlier this week that all Congressmen will have to spend sparingly.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/45829015.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst
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^ they wont do it now. Delhi is a small state. They will bring it out to defend the states in which they feel they have a chance. States such as Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh will keep flip flopping between BJP and Congress come what may. Their capitulation in Andhra Pradesh was a big blow to their coffers. That was once state which at one time looked as if would be Congress ruled for the next 20 years.

Posted

U cant be serious. Raises a serious question. How much does it cost to fight the polls? Obviously fighting a seat in mumbai and delhi will cost more than rural areas. The figures i have read are 10 crore lok sabha on average and 2 crore for mlas. Thst will get u cadre publicity etc per seat

Posted
Bhupinder Singh Hooda' date= Amarinder Singh may quit Congress, form new party http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-bhupinder-singh-hooda-amarinder-singh-leaving-congress-2049397
Ex-Punjab CM Amarinder to quit Congress if Bajwa stays
NEW DELHI: Congress is faced with the prospect of former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh quitting the party, with the latter having conveyed to the leadership that his demand for ouster of state unit chief Partap Singh Bajwa was non-negotiable. Singh, who met party supremo Sonia Gandhi on Friday, has denied that he was mulling options outside Congress. But, sources said, he has indirectly told the leadership that it would be curtains for him if Bajwa continues. The former CM has said in his conversations with leaders that his politics is Punjab-based and he is without work in the absence of a leadership position in the state. There have been phrases like "almost retirement for me" to underline the urgency.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Ex-Punjab-CM-Amarinder-to-quit-Congress-if-Bajwa-stays/articleshow/45839039.cms All sorts of rumours. Some even claim Amrinder might join the BJP
Posted
U cant be serious. Raises a serious question. How much does it cost to fight the polls? Obviously fighting a seat in mumbai and delhi will cost more than rural areas. The figures i have read are 10 crore lok sabha on average and 2 crore for mlas. Thst will get u cadre publicity etc per seat
Spending depends upon the party and more importantly, the candidate. If the candidate is local and knows the workers etc then an MLA election can be fought and won in less than 50 lacs. On the other hand if the candidate has no base and doesn't command the loyalty of the workers then he can spend crores and crores and still lose - Akhilesh Das of the BSP contested the Lucknow Lok Sabha seat in 2009 and spent the highest amount spent on a single seat till date (some people say he spent around 70-80 crores over a period of 2 years leading up to the elections) yet he came third.
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So then the congress dont need too much money considering they have networks in most states while the bjp dont. These workers. Do they get paid or They work but are paided per election to aid the party.

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^The new workers or those being brought from other parts of the city/state are paid but parties like Congress/BJP also have a large number of loyal old time workers who only need chai-paani and the feeling of being close to power. Rahul Gandhi should work on such people and make sure they don't get dejected or lose interest in the party. But this funding is only by the candidate and many candidates don't have that much of their own money to spend so they need party help. The large scale funding by the party depends almost exclusively on businessmen and those are firmly on BJP's side right now. That is Congress' biggest problem. Some of its in-house businessmen like Jindal are facing their own problems with regards to corruption so thats another setback.

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