Hooda walks out of Haryana Vidhan Sabha event over missing photo: ‘This is sheer misbehaviour’

PANCHKULA. Haryana’s Leader of Opposition, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, stormed out of a Vidhan Sabha conference in Panchkula on Monday after finding that his photograph was missing from the hoardings at the venue. He went back in only after Assembly Speaker Harvinder Kalyan phoned him and organisers put his picture on the stage backdrop.

The two-time former chief minister had come to Indradhanush Auditorium for the Janpratinidhi Sammelan, a meet of sitting and former MLAs held under the Assembly’s Samvidhan Pakhwada (Constitution fortnight). He objected as soon as he saw the hoardings and turned back towards his car.

“This is sheer misbehaviour. I had come for a special programme,” Hooda told officials.

Officials tried to stop him at the venue, but Hooda called it insulting and left. He spoke to waiting reporters from his car. A few officials followed him out to win him over, and Kalyan called him. After a long round of persuasion, Hooda returned.

Two Congress MLAs, BB Batra and Aftab Ahmed, also walked out after Hooda left.

Four faces on the first hoarding

The hoarding first put up at the venue carried photographs of Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Speaker Kalyan, Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini and Governor Prof Ashim Kumar Ghosh. The Leader of Opposition was not on it.

After Hooda’s protest, the stage backdrop was changed. The new one showed six faces, with Hooda at the left end of the row, followed by Kalyan, Birla, Saini, Deputy Speaker Dr Krishan Lal Middha and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mahipal Dhanda.

233 legislators, four generations

The conference brought 233 present and former legislators onto one stage: 57 sitting MLAs and 176 former MLAs, spanning four generations of Haryana politics. Birla, Governor Ghosh and CM Saini attended.

The meet is meant to let leaders who represented the state in different eras share their experience. Discussions are planned on constitutional values, Haryana’s growth over the years and the role of elected representatives in building a “Viksit Haryana”.

Former Speakers Gian Chand Gupta, Kanwar Pal Gujjar, Kuldeep Sharma and Dr Raghuvir Singh Kadian were present, along with former Deputy Speakers Santosh Yadav and Azad Mohammad. Cabinet minister Anil Vij and Kadian, both seven-time MLAs, also attended.