Predicting a "massive mandate" for the Congress in the Haryana Assembly polls, former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Friday said the final decision on the chief ministerial pick would be taken by the party high command and it would be acceptable to him.
Dismissing talk of infighting, Hooda said the Congress was united in Haryana and claimed that the party would derive more strength from having multiple claimants for the chief minister's post.
In an interview with PTI, Hooda also made it clear that he was a claimant for the chief minister's post ahead of his son Deepender Hooda, asserting that he was "neither tired nor retired".
Asked about senior leaders Kumari Selja and Randeep Surjewala also airing their chief ministerial ambitions, Hooda said, "It is a good thing. If you do not have 'ichcha (ambition)' in politics, then your politics will become stagnant. More the claimants, more the strength we (Congress) will derive," he said.
Talking about the Congress' chances in the polls, the 77-year-old leader said, "I am travelling across the state and we are getting tremendous support from all sections. On the basis of that, I can say that people have made up their minds -- 'abki baar Congress ki sarkar'." -- PTI