Prepared for another fight, says Hooda, seeks support from voters

Former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda used a tour of Garhi Sampla-Kiloi to tell his supporters that he was prepared to continue in active politics and was ready for another “fight”.

Hooda asks supporters to choose between silence and a fight

A week after turning 79, Mr. Hooda made it clear on Wednesday that he was not ready to “hang up his political boots”.

Addressing villagers in his Assembly constituency, the Leader of the Opposition framed his political future as a choice between “sitting silent” and “continuing the fight”.

“My people are my real strength,” Mr. Hooda told the gathering.

“I have come to ask you whether I should sit quietly or continue to fight,” the Congress leader said in Haryanvi.

“There are only two paths: to sit silent or to fight,” he said.

“I am ready. You should be ready. I am not going to step back. I have never stepped back before,” Mr. Hooda said, drawing applause.

His remarks were made in front of his political base, where he directly asked supporters whether he should continue in active politics.

‘You are my strength,’ says former Chief Minister

Mr. Hooda invoked the language of the wrestling arena while describing the relationship between a political leader and the people.

He said that, unlike a wrestler, a political leader had no strength of his own and drew it from the people.

“You are my strength. I am nothing without you,” he said.

“I became Chief Minister because of the strength you gave me,” Mr. Hooda told the gathering.

“You supported me earlier to form the government,” he said.

The former Chief Minister also linked the political contest to the future of the younger generation.

He alleged that the BJP government was “not working in the interests of the people or their children”.

Mr. Hooda ended his address by turning the question of his political future into a visible test of public backing.

“Raise your hands and tell me, should I fight?” he asked the gathering.

Message amid strains in State Congress unit

Mr. Hooda also appeared to send a message to those seeking to sideline him.

“If anyone tries to elbow me out, I know how to strike back so hard that they will fall to the ground,” he said.

“I know how to use my elbow,” he added.

The remarks acquire significance against the backdrop of recent strains and competing ambitions within the State Congress unit.

Earlier this year, a brief exchange between Mr. Hooda and Rajya Sabha MP Randeep Singh Surjewala at a programme to welcome newly appointed State Congress in-charge Sanjay Dutt had fuelled discussion.

In a video of the event that went viral, Mr. Hooda was heard telling Mr. Surjewala, “Support me, then see the impact.”

Mr. Surjewala, taking the microphone from State Congress president Rao Narender Singh, responded: “I have supported you for 20 years. Now it is your turn to support me.”

Against that backdrop, Mr. Hooda’s remarks in Garhi Sampla-Kiloi placed the question of his own role before supporters in his Assembly constituency.

He asked them whether he should “sit quietly” or “continue to fight”, while also saying that he was ready and would not step back.

The address combined an appeal for public support, a defence of his political relevance, and a warning to those trying to push him aside.

For Mr. Hooda, the central claim remained that his strength came from his supporters, whom he credited for his rise to the Chief Minister’s office and for helping him form the government earlier.

The speech was published on September 24, 2026, at 01:40 am IST.

Source: The Hindu