Congress on course to sweep polls, set to repeat 2005 performance: Surjewala

Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala has said that the BJP is suffering from a complete "bankruptcy of leadership" in Haryana, and asserted that his party is set to repeat its 2005 performance when it bagged 67 of the 90 seats in the state.

The Congress MP said even issues have become blurred in the polls this time and the people want to oust the BJP.

"They (BJP) have not permitted any leader to be developed and this is a pan-India problem," the Congress general secretary, who is also a former Haryana minister, told PTI.

"They are killing established leadership of the BJP. What they have done in Rajasthan, got reflected in the Lok Sabha results, that people don't accept novices," he said.

Dwelling on his party's prospects in the state, Surjewala asserted that the "Congress is on course to sweep the elections...we are repeating or even bettering our 2005 performance".

"We just need to hold the election here. Elections is now for the Congress to take," he said.

The Congress is contesting 89 of the 90 seats, leaving Bhiwani for the CPI(M) to contest.

Asked what will be impact of players like INLD-BSP, JJP-Azad Samaj Party in the polls, Surjewala said, "People are pretty decisive, they have made up their mind to bring the Congress, so I don't think other things matter much".

"First time, I am seeing that even issues are also becoming blurred. People just want to oust the BJP," he adds.

Hitting out at the BJP, the senior Congress leader said its government in the state has failed on all fronts.

The 57-year-old MP's son Aditya Surjewala (25) is also contesting his first election as a Congress party candidate from Kaithal, a seat represented in the outgoing Assembly by BJP's Leela Ram (63), who is seeking to get re-elected.

Aditya Surjewala, grandson of veteran Congress leader, late Shamsher Singh Surjewala, is a commerce graduate from the University of British Columbia, and the third-generation politician in the family.

The junior Surjewala says he is receiving a lot of love and blessings from people of Kaithal, who, he says, are family to him.

People are fed up with the BJP government and they want to oust them in the polls, he says.

He also feels the development has halted in Kaithal for past few years and adds people still remember the works which were carried out during his father and grandfather's time.

Kaithal is facing neglect under the BJP dispensation and changing the face of Kaithal by improving condition of roads, working towards generating employment for youth, bringing new developmental projects, will be some of his priorities, if elected.

Apart from his grandfather and father, Aditya Surjewala says he is inspired by the leadership of Rahul Gandhi.

With "Kaam He Pehchan" being their election slogan, the father-son are actively campaigning in Kaithal, with the senior Surjewala reminding people how the constituency had witnessed development when he represented it.

During one of his public meetings here, Randeep Surjewala tells the people that whenever BJP's sitting MLA Leela Ram is confronted by the constituents and asked about development coming to a standstill, he only says, "meri toh chaldi koyee nahi (I am powerless)".

"But I (Randeep) am an old 'mistri' (mason) of this city. I know how to lay sewers, build roads and bus stand, and how to open polytechnics and ITI institutes. And when your work increases, you need one more 'mistri' and his name is Aditya Surjewala," he tells people in a lighter vein.

Asked if he foresees any difficult moments in picking up the party's chief minister face if the Congress comes to power, he said, "I don't see any problem".

"Who will be the leader, the party has not decided yet. It has clearly said that the time tested tradition is that it is the party MLAs who will be consulted and then leadership will decide".

Randeep Surjewala, currently a Rajya Sabha MP, has represented the Kaithal constituency twice in the past and lost narrowly to Leela Ram in 2019.

Asked if it was an emotional moment for him the fact that his son was fighting from the constituency he once represented, Randeep Surjewala said, "honestly, it hasn't really sunk in for me. I am so intensely connected here. Everybody asks me this question."

Polling for the 90 Assembly seats in Haryana will be held on 5 October and the results will be declared on 8 October.