“Do ponder over this when you vote: we have not done harm to anyone, not even to our opponents,” young Deepender Hooda holds forth as he addresses a motley crowd of people at Brahmanon Wali Chaupal at this village in Meham Assembly segment while seeking a renewed term in the Lok Sabha from Rohtak constituency.

The “no-harm” reminder by Deepender, the only son of Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, may appear no big deal to a casual observer. But not quite so in the volatile politics of this state, which has a long tradition of chief ministers pursuing a politics of vendetta against their adversaries, arresting and harassing them in the process.

While Hooda senior has earned the reputation of a gentleman chief minister, Deepender too shines in contrast to the sons of previous chief ministers. Deepender, all of 32, has not landed his father in any unseemly controversy despite being in active politics for

four years.

Hooda junior is also adequately deferential to his father’s associates. “Uncleji, where do we go next?” Deepender asks local MLA Anand Singh Dangi (who first hit the headlines when he waged the Meham battle against INLD leader Om Prakash Chautala in 1990). Dangi is busy conducting him through his Assembly constituency. On his part, Dangi accords Deepender the precedence due to a local MP, but he does treat him essentially as the son of a colleague.

The Hoodas excel in overcoming their adversaries by refusing to engage them. This, naturally blunts the opposition. No wonder then that four years on, Bhupinder rules over Haryana without facing any serious challenge, notwithstanding the games of his rivals within the state Congress. He has no major achievements to his credit, but there are no complaints from people either. “Hooda is a nice person,” says Balwan Singh, a shopkeeper at Meham, explaining why Deepender is the overwhelming choice of people.

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