Rohtak: Strong political winds are blowing in favour of the INDIA bloc in Haryana and are sure to sweep it to victory in all 10 Lok Sabha seats, said former Chief Minister and Leader of Opposition in the state assembly Bhupinder Singh Hooda in an exclusive interview with ThePrint Sunday.
Of the 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana, Congress is contesting nine, while the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is in the running from Kurukshetra parliamentary constituency.
ThePrint caught up with Hooda at his D Park residence in Rohtak and travelled with him to Sisana village on Sonipat Road, where he was campaigning for Satpal Brahmachari, the Congress candidate for Sonipat.
Along the way, within Rohtak city limits, people frequently stopped his car to greet him, hand him something, or simply seek his blessings, referring to him as “Chacha” (paternal uncle). Hooda obliged most, rolling down his window to accept their offerings and listen to them
“Chacha, bas ek baar sar pe haath dhar de (just place your hand on my head once and bless me),” said one among a group of young men, who had stopped his car.
A little ahead, another group stopped his vehicle and handed over two boxes, one with ‘Matu Ram Gohana Wale Jalebi’ printed on it, along with a few disposable plates and spoons.
“Chacha, kachauri aur jalebi hain. Raaste mein kha liyo (here are jalebis and kachauris for the road),” said one of them.
Exuding confidence, Hooda claimed that the BJP’s graph was on the decline and that there was a strong wave in favour of the Congress in this election.
“I have years of political experience. Going by the public response we have been getting from all sections of society during these elections, I can say that a strong wind is blowing in favour of the Congress in Haryana. And whenever there is such a wave, a clean sweep is the only result,” said Hooda, predicting that the INDIA bloc will win all 10 seats.
Haryana will vote in the sixth phase of polling on 25 May.
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‘Congress will form next Haryana govt’
Hooda claimed that sentiments on the ground show that the people of Haryana have decided that the Congress will form the next government after the October 2024 assembly polls.
During the campaign, the former CM said, many people raised concerns about unemployment, inflation, and poor law and order.
“It seems as if there has been no government in control of law and order in the state,” he said, adding that corruption, too, has been “rampant” within the administration.
“Haryana is number one in the country in terms of unemployment today,” he said. “Traders are unhappy because their businesses have suffered since the introduction of GST. The government promised to double farmers’ income, but their input costs have doubled instead. The prices of diesel, pesticides, seeds and fertilisers have increased manifold since 2014, but the income of the farmers has not increased at the same pace. Farmers are not getting the right minimum support price (MSP) for their crops.”
Hooda then referenced promises for farmers outlined in the Congress manifesto.
“Our party will offer MSP as a guarantee. It will be computed on the basis of the C2+50 percent formula suggested by the Swaminathan Commission. This was also one of the recommendations of the committee headed by me to the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at the Centre, when the Swaminathan Commission submitted its report in 2006,” he said.
C2 stands for the comprehensive cost of production, including account rent, and interest foregone on land and machinery owned by farmers. According to the Swaminathan Commission report, the formula to calculate MSP would be C2+ 50 percent of C2, since it recommended that the MSP should be 1.5 times the input costs incurred by the farmers.
He said that the Congress, when it comes to power in Haryana, will also waive farm loans in the state, and set up a public sector company for crop insurance.
Hooda’s response to BJP’s ‘400 paar’ pitch for the elections is: “North Mein Half, South Mein Saaf, BJP Ka Gir Gaya Graph (BJP will win half the seats it won in 2019 in northern states, and will be wiped out completely in southern states, which is how their graph will go down this time).”
He also said that the Nayab Singh Saini-led government in Haryana was in minority after the withdrawal of support by three independent MLAs. The government didn’t have any authority to remain in power and should resign, he added. According to him, a fresh round of assembly elections should be held under President’s rule.
On the allegations made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his rallies in Haryana, and elsewhere, that the Congress will earmark 15 percent of the budget for Muslims, and will snatch people’s mangalsutras and give them to Muslims, Hooda said that nothing of that sort is mentioned in the Congress manifesto.
“However, it is a fact that our manifesto mentions earmarking of the budget for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes,” he added.
The former CM denied reports of infighting in the Haryana Congress and said that there could be “matbhed” (difference of opinion) among leaders, but no “manbhed” (difference of ideology) among them.
He claimed instead that infighting was evident in the BJP. “(Former Haryana home minister) Anil Vij is nowhere to be seen,” Hooda said, as he exited his car and moved to a rath (makeshift chariot built in a luxury bus) for the next lap of his journey towards Sonipat.
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(Edited by Mannat Chugh)