Bhupinder Singh Hooda (born 15 September 1947)[1] is an Indian National Congress politician, who has served as the Chief Minister of Haryana from 2005 to 2014. He was the Leader of the Opposition in Haryana Legislative Assembly from 2019 to 2024.[2][3]

Bhupinder Singh Hooda
Leader of the Opposition,
Haryana Legislative Assembly
In office
2 November 2019 – 12 September 2024
DeputyAftab Ahmed
Preceded byhimself
In office
4 September 2019 – 27 October 2019
Preceded byAbhay Singh Chautala
Succeeded byhimself
In office
2001–2004
Preceded byOm Prakash Chautala
Succeeded byOm Prakash Chautala
9th Chief Minister of Haryana
In office
5 March 2005 – 26 October 2014
Preceded byOm Prakash Chautala
Succeeded byManohar Lal Khattar
Member of the Haryana Legislative Assembly
Assumed office
22 October 2009
Preceded byPosition established
Himself as MLA of Kiloi
ConstituencyGarhi Sampla-Kiloi
In office
June 2005 – October 2009
Preceded byKrishan Hooda
Succeeded byConstituency renamed as Garhi Sampla-Kiloi after delimitation
ConstituencyKiloi
In office
February 2000 – May 2004
Preceded byKrishan Hooda
Succeeded byKrishan Hooda
ConstituencyKiloi
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
In office
June 1991 – October 1999
Preceded byDevi Lal
Succeeded byInder Singh
ConstituencyRohtak
In office
May 2004 – June 2005
Preceded byInder Singh
Succeeded byDeepender Singh Hooda
ConstituencyRohtak
Personal details
Born (1947-09-15) 15 September 1947 (age 77)
Rohtak, East Punjab, India
(present-day Haryana)
Political partyIndian National Congress (1972–present)
Spouse
Asha Dahiya
(m. 1976)
Children2 (including Deepender Singh Hooda)
Parent
Alma materPanjab University (B.A.),
Faculty of Law, University of Delhi (LL.B)
OccupationPolitician
Source: [1]

When he began a second term in October 2009 after leading the Congress to an election victory, it was the first time since 1972 that a Haryana electorate returned a ruling party back to power. Hooda is also a Member of the Bar Council of Punjab and Haryana. In 2010, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh constituted the Working Group on Agriculture Production under Hooda's chairmanship to recommend strategies and action plan for increasing agricultural production and productivity, including long-term policies to ensure sustained agricultural growth.

Early life

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Bhupinder Singh Hooda was born to Chaudhary Ranbir Singh Hooda and Har devi Hooda at the Sanghi village in Rohtak district of Haryana.[4][5] His father Ranbir Singh Hooda was a renowned freedom fighter.[5]

He is an alumnus of Sainik School, Kunjpura, Karnal, Haryana and Sainik School, Balachadi, Jamnagar, Gujarat.[6] He did his B.A. at Panjab University, Chandigarh after which he pursued law from the prestigious Faculty of Law, University of Delhi. He started his political career at Youth Congress.

Political career

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Chaudhry Bhupinder Singh Hooda was elected as a member of parliament from Rohtak Lok Sabha segment for four terms in 1991, 1996, 1998, 2004. He also remained the Leader of Opposition in Haryana Legislative Assembly from 2001 to 2004.[7] He also served as the President of HPCC (Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee) from 1996 to 2001. In three consecutive Lok Sabha elections of 1991, 96 & 98, he defeated Ch. Devi Lal in electoral battles fought in the Jat heartland of Rohtak in Haryana. He attended international Conferences like World Youth Festival in USSR, World Parliamentary Conference in China, International Conference in USSR as a delegate of AICC and OISCA and International Conferences in Japan and South Korea. Hooda was a vocal supporter for structural reforms within the Congress party and a part of the G23 rebel leaders group. He has been meeting party senior leaders and other G23 leaders to bring about reconciliation.[8]

He is also President, All India Young Farmers' Association, Haryana; Ex-Member, Market Committee, Rohtak; Director, Bank of India, 1989–92; Secretary, Farmers' Parliamentary Forum, 1991 onwards; Founder-Member and Working President of All India Freedom Fighters' Successors' Organisation; Working President, National Federation Railway Porters, Vendors and Bearers. Elected as a President for the Khadi & Village Industries Commission Employees Union & Patron for the National Khadi & Village Industries Board's Employees Federation – an apex body of all State K&V.I Board's Employees Unions.

To encourage youngsters to pick up Olympic sports, Hooda announced a cash award of Rs 25 million for the state athletes who would win gold medal in any discipline at the London Games. Cash prize money of Rs 15 million and Rs 10 million for silver and bronze medal winners has also been announced.[9] Hooda has come under the scanner of the CBI for alleged misappropriation of funds and scams.[10] In 2019, CBI's preliminary inquiry (PE) has revealed that Hooda and TC Gupta, a 1987 batch IAS officer and the then head of the town and planning department, allegedly hatched a criminal conspiracy with private builders to deliberately notify huge chunks of land in various sectors of Gurgaon for acquisition for public purpose. This led to the landowners selling their lands at throwaway prices to private builders. But the government ended up actually acquiring only a small proportion of these notified land tracts.[11]

Personal life

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Bhupinder Singh Hooda married Asha Dahiya in 1976. He has two children.[12] His son Deepender Singh Hooda is the MP of Rohtak.

Positions held

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Positions held in Pradesh Congress Committee

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SI No. Post Tenure
1. Block Congress Committee, Kiloi, Haryana. 1972-1977
2. 1.) Senior Vice-president, Haryana Pradesh Youth Congress.
2.) Chairman of Panchayat Samiti, Rohtak.
3.) Chairman of Panchayat Parishad of Haryana.
1980-1987
3. President of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee. 1996-2001
4. Chairperson, Election Management Committee. Incumbent

Government of Haryana

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SI No. Post Date Appointed Tenure
1. Leader of the Opposition 2002 2002-2004
2. Chief Minister 5 March 2005 2005-2009
3. Chief Minister 25 October 2009 2009-2014
4. Leader of the Opposition[13] 4 September 2019 Incumbent

Electoral history

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Lok Sabha

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SI No. Year Lok Sabha Constituency Party Votes Vote share Margin Result
1. 1991 10th Rohtak Indian National Congress 2,41,235 44% 30,573 Won[14]
2. 1996 11th Rohtak Indian National Congress 1,98,154 31.71% 2,664 Won[14]
3. 1998 12th Rohtak Indian National Congress 2,54,951 38.66% 383 Won[14]
4. 1999 13th Rohtak Indian National Congress 2,22,233 35.09% 1,44,693 Lost[14]
5. 2004 14th Rohtak Indian National Congress 3,24,235 48.97% 1,50,435 Won[14]
6. 2019 17th Sonipat Indian National Congress 4,22,800 37.43% 1,64,864 Lost

Haryana Legislative Assembly

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SI No. Year Assembly Constituency Party Votes Vote share Margin Result
1. 1982 6th Kiloi Indian National Congress 15,240 32.16% 4,553 Lost
2. 1987 7th Kiloi Indian National Congress 18,687 33.32% 15,023 Lost
3. 2000 10th Kiloi Indian National Congress 39,513 53.48% 11,958 Won[15]
4. 2005bye-election 11th Kiloi Indian National Congress 1,06,698 96.68% 1,03,635 Won
5. 2009 12th Garhi Sampla Kiloi Indian National Congress 89,849 79.77% 72,100 Won[15]
6. 2014 13th Garhi Sampla Kiloi Indian National Congress 80,693 57.28% 47,185 Won
7. 2019 14th Garhi Sampla Kiloi Indian National Congress 97,755 65.82% 58,312 Won
8. 2024 15th Garhi Sampla Kiloi Indian National Congress 1,08,539 72.72% 71,465 Won

Criticism and scam cases

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There are many cases filed against him including six CBI cases and several other vigilance department investigations against Hooda underway.[16] Central Bureau of Investigation is investigating several scams, mostly related to illegal land grab, that took place during his rule in Haryana. These investigations include the Gurugram-Manesar IMT land scam, Robert Vadra DLF land grab scam, Gurugram Rajiv Gandhi Trust land grab scam, Sonepat-Kharkhoda IMT land scam case, Garhi Sampla Uddar Gagan land scam, Panchkula-HUDA Industrial plots allotment scam, AJL-National Herald Panchkula land grab scam, Haryana Forestry scam case and Haryana Raxil drug purchase scam. He has been already chargesheeted in the Manesar-Gurugram land scam, while other cases are still under investigation (c. March 2018).[17][16]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Loksabha : Member's Bioprofile". Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  2. ^ "Bhupinder Singh Hooda biography". oneindia.com. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  3. ^ "Bhupinder Singh Hooda Biography". elections.in. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  4. ^ Chaudhary, Praveen Kumar (12 February 2011). Communal Crimes and National Integration: A Socio-legal Study. Readworthy. ISBN 9789350180402. Retrieved 12 February 2020 – via Google Books.
  5. ^ a b "Som Patidar: Freedom Fighters Pay Tribute to Chaudhary Ranbir Singh". Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  6. ^ "Public Information Bureau release on balachadi Sainik School".
  7. ^ "The Leader of the Opposition in the Haryana Vidhan Sabha, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, has criticised the Central and Chautala Governments for their failure to allot any relief to the drought-affected people of the state". The Tribute. 1 April 2003. Retrieved 4 September 2024.
  8. ^ C G, Manoj (18 March 2022). "Rahul Gandhi reaches out to Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Manish Tewari says Congress needs 'surgery'". The Indian Express. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
  9. ^ "Rs 2.5 Crore for gold medal in Olympics: Haryana CM". The Times Of India. 27 July 2012.
  10. ^ Siwach, Sukhbir (20 February 2018). "CBI names Bhupinder Singh Hooda main conspirator in Rs 1000 crore Manesar land scam". The Indian Express. Retrieved 25 February 2018.
  11. ^ Ohri, Raghav (26 January 2019). "CBI books former Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda for 'illegal' land deals". The Economic Times. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  12. ^ Adil, Mohammad (9 May 2019). "Bhupinder Singh Hooda: Will the Congress heavyweight stomp his authority in Sonipat?". Times Now. Archived from the original on 24 May 2019. Retrieved 24 May 2019.
  13. ^ NDTV. "Congress Elects Bhupinder Hooda As Leader Of Opposition In Haryana". Archived from the original on 19 May 2024. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
  14. ^ a b c d e "Rohtak Lok Sabha Election Result". resultuniversity.com. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
  15. ^ a b "Garhi Sampla Kiloi Assembly Constituency Election Result". resultuniversity.com. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
  16. ^ a b "हुड्डा की घेरेबंदी में जुटी हरियाणा सरकार, दो और मामलों में सीबीआई जांच के आदेश". Navbharat Times (in Hindi). 13 March 2018. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  17. ^ "CBI to probe two more Hooda govt land deals". Tribune. 14 March 2018. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
Lok Sabha
Preceded by Member of Parliament
for Rohtak

1991 – 1999
Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of Parliament
for Rohtak

2004 – 2005
Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Chief Minister of Haryana
5 March 2005 – 26 October 2014
Succeeded by