Haryana Congress: Kuldeep Sharma Writes to High Command Over Deepender Hooda’s CM Projection

Former Haryana Assembly Speaker Kuldeep Sharma has approached the Congress high command against the projection of Rohtak MP Deepender Singh Hooda as a possible chief ministerial face for the 2029 Haryana Assembly elections.
Sharma has written to Congress general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal, Haryana in-charge Sanjay Dutt and state Congress president Rao Narender Singh, objecting to what he described as the projection of a particular face ahead of the elections. The letter was sent on September 13 and has now come to light.
In his letter, Sharma referred to a recent statement by Congress leader Sachin Pilot that the party should contest elections under collective leadership, with Rahul Gandhi leading the campaign. Sharma said such an approach reflected the party’s broader organisational ethos of fighting elections on its ideology rather than around a particular chief ministerial candidate.
Sharma argued that projecting one individual or family could restrict the party’s wider appeal. Referring to former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, he alleged that the Congress had repeatedly suffered electoral setbacks in Haryana because one person, and now his son, had been projected as the chief ministerial face.
According to Sharma, presenting oneself as a chief ministerial contender well before an election could turn the party’s campaign into an exercise in personal branding rather than strengthening its broader political appeal. He said this could limit the Congress’s outreach to different sections of society.
Sharma further alleged that Deepender Hooda had been promoting himself as the chief ministerial face for 2029, which, in his view, was restricting the Congress’s ability to build a broad-based coalition of supporters.
He urged the Congress high command to intervene and put an end to such activities. Sharma also called for the decision on the future chief minister to be left to the party’s central leadership.
This is not the first time Sharma has raised objections against Deepender Hooda. In August, he had complained over Hooda’s remarks concerning former Congress leader Sajjan Kumar, who was convicted for his role in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. Sharma had sought Hooda’s removal as a permanent invitee to the Congress Working Committee. Hooda later issued a clarification over his remarks.