In poll year, Hooda faces desertions, detractors

No one is expecting the Congress to repeat its 2009 performance when it won nine out of the 10 Lok Sabha seats from the state. Also, Hooda is on a sticky wicket for the assembly elections.

In the October 2009 assembly elections, which Hooda called six months earlier than scheduled, the Congress ended up as the single largest party without a simple majority.

Sharma was credited for pulling it off for Hooda by roping in independent legislators and managing defections from the HJC to enable the Congress to cobble a majority.

Earlier this year, Gurgaon MP and former union minister Inderjit Singh quit the Congress. He has joined the BJP.

Another legislator from Sohna (near Gurgaon), Dharambir, announced his resignation as chief parliamentary secretary (CPS) of the Congress.