Deepender Hooda to miss date with ballot

ROHTAK: Even as Haryana goes to polls on Thursday, son of its chief minister and two-time Rohtak MP Deepender Hooda will miss his date with the ballot as he is undergoing treatment at All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS), New Delhi.
Deepender has been advised total rest by doctors and is bed-ridden after his backbone disc problem aggravated in the recent past.During the entire poll campaign period he stayed away from rallies and road shows and his father and CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda, mother Asha and wife Shweta were handling his election strategy. In the past few weeks, he was seen in public only when he filed his nomination papers from Rohtak constituency.
"I was advised not to travel by road to Rohtak from Delhi. In these circumstances, I had only one option to travel by a helicopter which I don't want to," Deepender told TOI. For the entire day, the bed-ridden MP, who is at the official residence of his father in New Delhi, kept calling his supporters to inquire about the booth management plans made by them. "I made unlimited calls," he said.
Deepender is contesting from Rohtak Lok Sabha constituency for the second time after winning the seat in 2005 and 2009. He had won the 2009 election with a margin of 4.4 lakh votes.
His family members said the problem started around three years ago while exercising but he could not take proper rest due to his engagements. "Then the problem aggravated and doctors asked him to take complete rest," they said.
Deepender said he may have to undergo a surgery as there is hardly any improvement in his health despite taking rest. "The doctors have called me for a review on April 17," he said. "My situation is like of a wrestler who has been working hard to perform well but gets injured just before entering the ring. Now, I understand how sportspersons must be feeling in such circumstances," said 36-year-old Deepender.
This time around, Deepender had sought his father's two days for campaigning in his own constituency. However, the CM says, "People are working for Deepender not me."
The CM reached his home town Rohtak on Tuesday and met a group of lawyers the next day. Senior Congress leaders like former assembly Speaker Raghubir Singh Kadiyan also met the CM. Confident about the poll outcome, the chief minister said, "We are in good situation in Rohtak and may win all 10 seats in the state."
In Sanghi village, where Hooda and family would cast their vote on Thursday morning, a group of women is busy mobilising voters for Deepender.