NEW DELHI: As the AICC screening committee is in the process of selecting Congress candidates for the Haryana assembly elections, there are indications that ch i e f minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda is keeping the option of contesting from two seats from two different regions of the state.AICC sources said Hooda has expressed a desire to contest, in addition to his sitting seat of Garhi Sampla-Kiloi in Rhotak, one more seat – either Panipat Rural seat or Indri seat in Karnal district.A final decision on Hoodaji;s wish will be taken soon, said a Congress leader. AICC sources feel Hooda’s keenness to fight two seat may have two reasons; first as a back-up arrangement in a tough poll and, secondly to try and dispel the inhouse criticism that the CM has been focusing only in his Rohtak base from where his son is elected to Lok Sabha. When Congress lost nine out of 10 Lok Sabha seats in May, Hooda’s detractors attributed it to the state government’s “negligence” of all other districts.While Hooda has been projecting his `two-seat plan’ as his way of “strategically fanning out across regions to check the growing BJP challenge”, many at AICC are intrigued by the fact many of Hooda’s own supporters, including some ex-MLAs, who recently crossed over to BJP now figure in the saffron party’s first list of candidates released on Thursday.Senior Congress leaders such as Birender Singh and Avtar Singh Badana recently quit the party alleging their non-accommodation by the Hooda camp. Now the Hooda camp’s peculiar pre-poll operation style has raised some eyebrows at AICC.While Hooda has been terming as “good riddance” his detractors quitting Congress, AICC is intrigued by the fact that over 20 known supporters of Hooda, including many former Congress MLAs have recently crossed over to the state BJP.They include leaders such Sunita Setia, Jitendra Malik, Krishna Gehlot, Daryao Singh, Jaipal Sangwan, Chattarpal, Harish Kumar, M L Ranga, Raj Kumal Balmiki, O P Vats, Jai Bhagwan Sharma, Harsh Kumal, Bahadur Singh, Bajrang Das Garg, D P Vats, K L Sharma and Virender Laambra.The first 10 of them have been given Bharatiya Janata Party tickets.While there has been no credible explanation to the AICC as to why these Hooda’s known followers, after enjoying fruits of his administration, have crossed over to the BJP, what is known to the AICC brass is the contrasting political targets of the two rival parties – the BJP and Chautla-led Indian National Lok Dal – fighting to wrest control of Haryana.While the BJP has been talking about “taking on” the Gandhi family, especially Robert Vadra ’s controversial land deals, if it comes to power in the state, the Chautalas, now in a jail in connection with a corruption case, have been vowing to take “revenge” on Bhupinder Hooda and his son if the Indian National Lok Dal returns to power.