Rohtak, September 27: Predicting a "massive mandate" for the Congress in the Haryana Assembly polls, former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Friday said the final decision on the chief ministerial pick would be taken by the party high command and it would be acceptable to him. Dismissing talk of infighting, Hooda said the Congress was united in Haryana and claimed that the party would derive more strength from having multiple claimants for the chief minister's post.

In an interview with PTI, Hooda also made it clear that he was a claimant for the chief minister's post ahead of his son Deepender Hooda, asserting that he was "neither tired nor retired". Asked about senior leaders Kumari Selja and Randeep Surjewala also airing their chief ministerial ambitions, Hooda said, "It is a good thing. If you do not have 'ichcha (ambition)' in politics, then your politics will become stagnant. More the claimants, more the strength we (Congress) will derive," he said. Haryana Congress Infighting: Amid Rumours of Discontent in Party, Randeep Surjewala Faces the Music, Says ‘Family Is Intact, Manohar Lal Khattar Should Worry About Himself’ (Watch Video).

Talking about the Congress' chances in the polls, the 77-year-old leader said, "I am travelling across the state and we are getting tremendous support from all sections. On the basis of that, I can say that people have made up their minds -- 'abki baar Congress ki sarkar'." Asked if the gap between the Congress and the BJP had closed in the last few days, Hooda exuded confidence that that his party would form the government with a "massive mandate".

On where he sees himself in the race for the chief minister's post, Hooda says the Congress has an established norm that MLAs are elected, observers come to take their opinion, and then the high command takes a decision. "Whatever it decides will be acceptable to me," the former Haryana chief minister said. Hooda's comments come a day after Selja, another chief ministerial post claimant of the party, made similar remarks. Selja had said the decision on who the chief minister would be on the party getting the people's mandate would be taken by the high command and that would be acceptable to everyone.

On his son Deepender Hooda being a prominent face in the campaign and whether he was also in the running for the chief minister's post, Hooda shot back, saying, "Why, do you want me to retire?" "I have said earlier also, neither am I tired nor retired," he asserted. Asked about the recent turn of events that saw Selja staying away from the campaign trail and then being placated by the party leadership, Hooda dismissed it as a "creation" of the media. The Congress is united, he asserted. Haryana Congress Infighting: Amid Rumours of Discontent in Party, Randeep Surjewala Faces the Music, Says ‘Family Is Intact, Manohar Lal Khattar Should Worry About Himself’ (Watch Video).

"Everything is fine, it was fine earlier also. I have nothing against anyone," Hooda stressed. He also dismissed the challenge posed by AAP, the INLD-BSP combine and the JJP-Azad Samaj Party alliance, saying the polls were a direct contest between the Congress and the BJP as people "will not vote for vote-cutters". "Voters of Haryana are very intelligent. They all fought in the Lok Sabha also, what happened, they got one per cent vote. People will not waste their votes and it is a direct fight between the Congress and the BJP," he said.

Hooda also accused the BJP of propping up people on several seats to damage the Congress' chances, citing the example of Gopal Kanda. "But people will not be swayed, they will not vote for vote-cutters," he said. Asked if the smaller parties were acting as B-teams of the BJP, Hooda said, "It is there for you to see. Gopal Kanda, who is contesting the elections, has stated that he would support the BJP upon winning. What other evidence is needed? People have understood." On how the 'Modi factor' could impact the polls, Hooda said Lok Sabha and assembly elections were different.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP led on 79 of the 90 assembly segments, the Congress on 10 and the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) on one but, when assembly elections took place later, the BJP's tally fell to 40 and the Congress' reached 31, he pointed out. "It is different this time. We won five of the 10 constituencies in the Lok Sabha polls. In all 10 constituencies, our vote share had gone up and the BJP's declined. Similarly, in all 90 assembly segments, our vote share had gone up and the BJP's fell," Hooda said.

Asked about Prime Minister Narendra Modi's attack on the Congress over infighting, the former Haryana chief minister said there was no internal rift and the Congress was united. On the BJP and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) calling the Congress anti-Dalit, Hooda said, "The reservation to Dalits has been given by the Constitution. I am proud that, along with Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, my father's signature is there on the Constitution. We will fight for the Constitution, we will not let them (BJP) change the Constitution, no matter how hard they try."

"They (BJP) have made efforts to do so and have betrayed people by attempting to change the Constitution," he said. In Haryana, they got Kaushal Rozgar and did not have reservation for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and other backward classes, he alleged. "They found a new way to skip reservation. In Haryana, the BJP is anti-reservation. The evidence is there before everyone," Hooda said. He added that the people in Haryana trusted the Congress as it had delivered in the past and, therefore, they knew that the party would fulfil its guarantees.

Asked about some critics questioning where funds for the Congress' guarantees would come from, Hooda said, "Look at the BJP manifesto, it is a copy-paste manifesto. Where will they get the funds from?" "If they were so sympathetic to women, why did they not work for their upliftment in the last 10 years?" he asked, hitting out at the BJP. On former chief minister and BJP leader Manohar Lal Khattar not being seen much in the campaign trail, Hooda said, "Go and ask the BJP. It shows their rift."

Asked if the current round of assembly polls would have an impact on the politics at the Centre, Hooda said every election had an impact. Polls for the 90-member Haryana Assembly will be held on October 5 and the votes counted on October 8.