When Hooda was elected Haryana Congress Legislative Party leader in 2005 by beating his rivals in Chief Ministership's race, his television images did not project him as a confident designated CM. After he took over, he became the target of pin-pricking by his adversaries who had aspired to become Chief Minister but failed. At times he had to suffer humiliation at the hands of those claiming to be close to 10 Janpath. For instance, within 24 hours of divesting his minister Kiran Chaudhry of her Environment portfolio, he had to restore it on orders from Delhi.

But with the passage of time Hooda acquired the art of political management which enabled him to thwart his adversaries repeated offensives and helped him to return to power for the second term even though the Congress had failed to get an absolute majority in the prematurely held Assembly elections. He also managed to keep some of his ambitious adversaries out of his new ministry.

In governance arena, his first term was marked by three outstanding steps. 1) It began with ending the terror atmosphere and vendetta politics perpetrated during the Om Parkash Chautala-led INLD's rule. 2) The government waived off farmers huge power dues and granted liberal sops and freebees to different sections of the people, the measures ruling parties usually adopt only on the eve of elections. 3) It fixed high land acquisition rates and introduced payment of annual annuity to the farmers for the lands bought by the government or the private sector. The Centre has now asked other states to follow the Haryana example on the land acquisition issue.

Although during its first term some sections of the people had started agitating against the Hooda ministry over the issues including power shortage and police excesses there were no signs of any widespread anti-incumbency sentiment in the state.

History had its first diversion when the Congress which had ascended to power with a thumping majority in 2005, failed to get a majority in 2009 mainly due to the party infighting. It was able to form the government by securing the support of five Independent MLAs and later gain its own majority by winning over Bhajan Lal-led Haryana Janta Party's five of the six MLAs. The first year of the new government's second term began by repeating the 2005 history when Hooda started announcing sops, despite the government, whose coffers were overflowing with surpluses in 2005, faced financial crunch.

The Hooda ministry's enviable goodwill and performance record particularly in fields of development and social welfare during its first term had earned Haryana the image of one of the country's best performing states. But its image has received a blow in the first year of its second term due to some unsavoury events. These include khap panchayats diktats, government's land release policy and excesses on Dalits particularly the Mirchpur violence in which a Dalit family of an old father and his disabled daughter was burnt alive when Jats set afire a large number of Dalits houses. The Supreme Court and the Punjab and Haryana Court have severely indicted the government on the first two issues.

The khap panchayats had been indulging in illegal functioning like banning the same-gotra and same-village marriages. The couples who defied such diktats were directed to annul their marriage. Those who defied the diktats were expelled from the villages and their families socially boycotted. All this has been done in the name of preserving the “age-old” social and customs norms.

There has also been growing incidence of honour killings in Haryana. Describing khap panchayats as social organizations, Hooda says that these bodies are not ordering honour killings. He may be right. But it should not be forgotten that khap panchayats illegal diktats against the same-gotra and same-village marriages and ordering expulsion from the village of the couples and their families who defied their orders create an atmosphere of hatred against them. It is such atmosphere which also contributes to the humiliating families resorting to honour killings. .

The acquired land release scam is not of recent origin. But it has assumed alarming proportions since 2005 because of the rapid development taking place particularly in the Haryana areas of National Capital Region. Under the practice the government acquires land for “public purpose” at rates much below the prevailing market rates and then release it to private developers. The developers would have been forced to shell out much higher rates if they had bought the land directly from the farmers. The Punjab and Haryana High Court which has been hearing petitions against the government's land release orders has severely indicted the state government for illegally acquiring land. It has charged the government and the bureaucracy with “concealing the identities of builders and developers whom the acquired lands have been released.”

These and some other issues like radically improving the image of the police whom the common man has started hating and which has also virtually become dysfunctional largely because of the laxity of some top civil and police officers should serve as a wake-up call for the Hooda government. His expertise in political management and his image of being the second architect, after Bansi Lal, of developed Haryana are Hooda's assets. He should employ these for taking corrective measures to remove his government's shortcomings. His amiable ways and not-nursing-malice-towards-others nature should not bar him from taking firm steps to improve his own governance and also the functioning of the Administration. (IPA Service)