Other States - Haryana   

Hooda a success, officials a failure

Rajesh Ahuja

Chief Minister, with a mixed record, completes 6 months in office

Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda

CHANDIGARH: Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who completes six months as Chief Minister on Monday, has had a mixed record of many successes and some failures. Political observers say that Mr. Hooda is committed to transform the State and his style of functioning is different from his predecessors.

Citing "rapid development in a corruption-free environment'' as his sole mantra, Mr.Hooda is accessible to all and sundry including party workers. But it has become apparent that the bureaucracy which had been given a free hand by the new Chief Minister has obviously failed to deliver the goods. In fact, an impression has been created that Mr.Hooda has not been able to exercise grip over the bureaucracy and the intelligence network which have repeatedly let him down.

However, sources close to Mr.Hooda say that the "blame'' cannot be ascribed to the Chief Minister and it is the officers who have failed to understand his vision and implement it.

Mr. Hooda, who became Chief Minister on March 5 after a "power struggle in the Congress'', is not facing any sort of visible political threat as his rivals have accepted his leadership in deference to the wishes of the High Command. The party MLAs have not raised any hue and cry over not being included in the State Cabinet or being made Chairmen of Boards and Corporations.

The most remarkable achievement of Mr.Hooda has been the successful implementation of a scheme which has made the people in the rural areas clear their huge power bill arrears. In fact, this politically sensitive and ticklish issue had been plaguing the erstwhile Governments and even led to violence by farmers. The Bhartiya Kisan Union, which had spearheaded farmers' agitation during the Chautala regime, has accepted the scheme and large number of defaulters have come forward to pay their bills.

According to Haryana watchers, the blame for the recent episodes in Gurgaon, Rohtak and Gohana where the police and the district administrations failed to assess the situation and either took extreme action or no action at all could be put on the failure of the bureaucracy and the intelligence network. The brutal police lathi-charge on workers of a multi-national company in Gurgaon in July, the use of "force'' against agitating former cops in Rohtak and the "disturbances between different communities'' in Gohana have clearly brought into focus the "failure'' of the bureaucracy and Intelligence in properly briefing the Chief Minister. Interestingly, Gohana, Gurgaon and Rohtak are very near to New Delhi, the Centre of Congress politics.

Even though the arson in Gohana took place in the afternoon, senior administrative officers and media persons in Chandigarh -- the State Headquarters -- came to officially know about it late in the night.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

EC cracks the whip; cases filed in Rohtak
Interim relief for Gohana victims raised
Hooda a success, officials a failure

Copyright © 2005, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu