With Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda challenging Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar to contest the upcoming Baroda Assembly bypoll against him, the latter on Monday said even an ordinary Bharatiya Janata Party worker was capable of defeating former CM Hooda.

Khattar reminded Hooda the Congress party did an experiment earlier too in Jind bypolls in January 2019, but faced defeat.

“They experimented earlier when they had fielded a national level leader (Randeep Singh Surjewala). We are saying this time too they should do another experiment (in Baroda),” said the CM when asked to comment on Hooda daring him to fight form Baroda.

Khattar made the remarks days after Hooda dared him to contest the next month’s Baroda Assembly bypoll against him. Ruling BJP and Congress are yet to declare their candidates for the Baroda assembly.

Baroda Assembly seat fell vacant in April following the death of sitting Congress legislator Shri Krishan Hooda.

Hooda, who is the Leader of the Opposition in Haryana assembly, had said if the Khattar government is confident of its performance, the chief minister should contest the by-election. Khattar, however, dismissed the challenge, saying even an ordinary BJP worker is capable of defeating Hooda from Baroda. “If he decides to jump into fray, even an ordinary worker of our party is capable of defeating him,” Khattar told reporters on the sidelines of an event.

He said a new and ordinary worker of BJP Krishan Middha had inflicted defeat on Congress” senior leader Randeep Singh Surjewala from Jind, a seat which the saffron party had won for the first time.

“Like in Jind, our ordinary and new party worker defeated Surjewala, here too (in Baroda), an ordinary and local worker will defeat Hooda if he contests from there,” said Khattar.

The bypoll to the Baroda will be held on 3 November while the counting of votes is to take place on 10 November. Hooda had recently said all sections of the society were fed up with the Bharatiya Janata Party-Jannayak Janta Party (BJP-JJP) government.

He had also said there was the anger of the farming community against the Centre”s three farm laws. “This government has failed on all fronts. During the past six years, they neglected the constituency (Baroda) and now they talk of development, but people have seen their true face and will teach them a lesson in the bypoll,” Hooda had said. Baroda assembly seat falling in Jat-dominated Deswali belt of Rohtak-Sonipat region is considered Hooda’s stronghold and the Congress had reaped rich electoral gains in the 2019 assembly polls from there.