Poll result in Sonipat LS seat will determine outcome of next Haryana Assembly elections: Hooda

Senior Congress leader and former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda Monday claimed the poll result in Sonipat Lok Sabha seat would determine the outcome of the Assembly elections in the state due later this year. He also claimed that voters of Haryana have already made up their mind to bring the Congress back to power in the state.

Hooda, the sitting Congress MLA from Garhi Sampla-Kiloi in Rohtak, is contesting the parliamentary polls from Sonipat and is pitted against BJP's sitting MP Ramesh Chander Kaushik and Jannayak Janata Party's (JJP) Digvijay Singh Chautala. He took out a roadshow in the Safidon Assembly segment on Monday and told the crowd, "The entire country is looking at the Sonipat Lok Sabha seat as a barometer of political opinion in the state as the party that wins the seat would form the next government in Haryana."

Hooda claimed that the people have made up their mind to vote out the "anti-farmer and anti-poor" BJP government in the state. Asserting that the Congress represents the will and aspirations of the people of the state, he said, "The party's agenda is to restore pro-people and pro-poor policies that were initiated by the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre and party's dispensation in Haryana, but were discontinued when the BJP came to power."

"It is now your responsibility to ensure victory of the Congress. You have to go to every family and tell them that the first thing the Congress would do after returning to power would be to waive the agricultural loans and make our farmers debt-free," Hooda told the gatherings. Referring to the Congress' minimum income guarantee scheme, 'Nyay', he said the party has decided to launch a final assault on poverty in the country and it is going to ensure an annual financial support of Rs 72,000 to the poor in the country if it comes to power.

Claiming that the BJP government lost its popularity among all sections of the society, the Congress leader said, "The farmers, poor, the backwards, government employees, traders and various other sections of the society are unhappy and they have made up their mind to vote out the BJP." Demonetisation and GST has broken the backs of the common man and traders, Hooda alleged.

Hitting out at the BJP government for "failing" to provide jobs to youth, he said, "Those who are well-qualified have only managed to find menial jobs... This is an insult to those who worked hard to excel in academics." "Once the Congress returns to power, these young women and men would be given jobs in line with their educational qualifications and those without a job would be given an unemployment allowance," Hooda said.

He also accused the BJP governments at the Centre and Haryana of dividing people in the name of caste, community and religion.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)