Brijendra aims for pole position in Haryana Congress with ‘yatra’

On Saturday, Brijendra concluded his 'Sadbhav Yatra' in Hooda’s stronghold Rohtak, looking to corner the BJP and unify the faction-ridden state Congress unit.

New Delhi: He excelled in cricket in his teenage years, representing Haryana in U-15 and U-19 tournaments, was a topper in studies, and secured the ninth rank in the Civil Service exams to become an IAS officer before winning his first electoral battle on a BJP ticket seven years ago.

Much water has since flowed under the bridge, and Brijendra Singh — son of veteran leader Birender Singh — is at a crossroads as he seeks to find a place of pride in Haryana Congress where former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda still rules the roost.

On Saturday, Brijendra — who quit the BJP to join the Congress ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls — concluded his “Sadbhav Yatra” in Hooda’s stronghold Rohtak, looking to corner the BJP and unify the faction-ridden state Congress unit.

The yatra started on October 5, 2025, in Danoda village, Narwana, and saw the 53-year-old politician cover around 2,800 km as he visited all 90 Haryana Assembly seats on foot.

It did not get an official stamp from the Hooda-dominated party apparatus, but wrangled the endorsement of Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, who joined the “yatra” in Gurugram earlier this month.

Succession plan?

With Hooda at 78 and Birender Singh at 80 looking at imminent retirement, the stage is set for a next-generation takeover. It was against this backdrop that Brijendra’s yatra caught eyeballs. Thus, the question arose as to whether he could checkmate Deepender Hooda, whom his father wants to succeed in the party hierarchy.

Hooda Sr and Singh are maternal cousins, and have illustrious legacies. Hooda’s father Chaudhary Ranbir Singh Hooda was a member of the erstwhile Constituent Assembly, while Singh’s grandfather was Chhotu Ram, an iconic agrarian reformer in pre-Independence India.

Singh had played a role when Hooda became Haryana CM for the first time when detractors of Bhajan Lal ganged up against him in 2005. Since then, Hooda has consolidated his grip on the Haryana Congress. However, the relationship between the cousins unravelled in 2013 when backroom manoeuvres denied Singh a seat in the Manmohan Singh government.

Singh was informed of being inducted into the government, but his name was struck off the list at the last minute. To this date, Singh claims it was Hooda who managed to change the script.

Months after the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Singh quit the Congress and joined the BJP. He returned to the Rajya Sabha and became a minister in the Narendra Modi government even as his son Brijendra served the Haryana government as a 1998-batch IAS officer.

Just before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Brijendra quit the IAS to contest from the Hisar Lok Sabha seat on a BJP ticket. He defeated the JJP’s Dushyant Chautala and the Congress’ Bhavya Bishnoi — grandsons of former CMs Om Prakash Chautala and Bhajan Lal, respectively.

But all was not well for the father-son duo in the BJP. The father was vocal against the three farm laws, as farmers and Jats were his core constituency; Brijendra strategically kept quiet. The BJP’s handling of the women wrestlers’ protest ruptured the relationship further.

Brijendra was among the very few BJP MPs who openly supported the women wrestlers, and was in the Congress by April 2024, saying there were “certain reasons why I was not happy there (in BJP)”.

Hooda hobbled

However, Hooda was not impressed with the return of his cousin with his son, which he perceived as a direct threat to his son Deepender’s primacy in the party. Despite being a sitting BJP MP, Brijendra was denied a ticket from Hisar. He lay low, at least for the time being.

In the October 2024 Assembly elections, Brijendra fought Uchana Kalan but lost by just 32 votes. Meanwhile, the Congress’ overall defeat under Hooda’s leadership gave his detractors an opening once again.

The Congress central leadership was also unhappy with the way Hooda surrendered a sure victory by sidelining leaders like Kumari Selja, Randeep Singh Surjewala, Birender Singh, and Ajay Yadav.

With the legislature party stacked with his supporters, Hooda managed to stave off any challenge to his leadership, but the central leadership managed to send a signal by delaying his anointment as Leader of the Opposition by a year.

By then, Brijendra had been appointed vice-chairperson of the Congress’ Foreign Affairs Department, indicating that the central leadership would not play the factional game. His BJP stint did not bother the leadership, and Brijendra appeared to have clicked with Rahul.

He claimed he let Rahul know his plans, and later met him during the yatra. Hooda’s detractors like Selja, Surjewala, and Yadav participated in the yatra while Hooda stayed away, except when Rahul joined it.

A section in the Congress perceived Hooda’s style of politics as aggressive, which alienated several sections. The central leadership may be looking for alternatives. The question now is: Can Brijendra emerge as a new pole in Haryana?