Bhupinder Singh Hooda has vowed not to share stage with PM Modi.
Hours after setting out to upstage the Prime Minister in addressing schoolchildren on Teachers' Day, Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda beat a quick retreat.
Mr Hooda, who had decided to test his state's EDUSAT equipment with an address a few hours before the Prime Minister on September 5, now says, "I have no such programme".
Stealing the thunder from Mr Narendra Modi's special programme could have helped ameliorate a considerable bruise to Mr Hooda's ego. He has vowed that he would not share stage again with the Prime Minister after he was booed at a public function in his state, where Mr Modi was present.
But this evening, though an official of the chief minister's office said the programme wasn't discussed with the CM, grapevine had it that Mr Hooda wished to avoid politicisation of the event -- and perhaps also a possible confrontation with Mr Modi.
The Centre had clarified yesterday that schools can choose whether or not to make students sit through Mr Modi's programme. He will address and interact with about 1,000 students at a Delhi auditorium and simultaneously with students at other centres through video conferencing.
Haryana schools, including some elite schools in posh Delhi suburb Gurgaon, had been instructed to arrange for TV sets if the EDUSAT (education satellite) equipment is not functioning and to ensure uninterrupted power supply for the speeches, to be telecast live.
Elections are due in Haryana next month and PM Modi's party, the BJP, is making every effort to dislodge Mr Hooda's Congress government. The Congress has ruled the state for a decade straight, but the BJP fancies its chances this time based on its performance in this year's national elections. It had won eight of Haryana's 10 seats.