Bhupinder Hooda quashes rumours of quitting Cong, floating new outfit

New Delhi, Jan 12: Amidst reports that he was about to form a new political outfit, former Haryana Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Monday said there was no question of his quitting the party.

Trashing the reports in a section of the media about him quitting Congress, Hooda said he remains a loyal party soldier and is committed to strengthening it further in Haryana.

On a day when he hosted a lunch for his party colleagues at his residence, Hooda told PTI, "There is no question of my quitting the party. I am a loyal soldier of Congress party and will remain so and will work towards strengthening it further in Haryana. Any rumours spread about me are all trash." Hooda said he has full faith in the Congress leadership and would work to steer the party in Haryana, where he was voted out after 10 years in power.

Almost the entire Congress brass, including leaders like Ahmed Patel, Janardan Dwivedi, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Motilal Vora, Anand Sharma, Ashwani Kumar, Asha Kumari, BK Hariprasad and Oscar Fernandes, attended the lunch hosted by Hooda.

Congress spokespersons Abhishek Singhvi and PC Chacko and younger leaders like RPN Singh and Jitin Prasad, too, attended the lunch gathering at Hooda's residence. Hooda said he would strive hard to unite Congress workers in the state so that a major front can oppose the BJP government's "wrong" policies in the state.

Congress finished third behind BJP in the recently- concluded Assembly polls in Haryana.

PTI