Cong a 'sinking ship', people have decided to go with BJP for Baroda bypolls: Dhankar

They want to see accelerated development and BJP is committed to Baroda's development,” he said. Former Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who also addressed a meeting of his party MLAs on Tuesday, claimed the BJP government has done no work in Baroda despite being in power for six years in Haryana and said the people will not be distracted by the "non-issues" being raised by the ruling party.

Newly appointed Haryana BJP president O P Dhankar on Tuesday claimed that the Congress was a "sinking ship" and people have decided to side with the ruling dispensation in bypolls to Baroda assembly seat in Sonipat district. Contrary to the main opposition Congress's claim that BJP candidate will struggle to save his security deposit in Baroda, Dhankar told reporters he visited the constituency recently and the public opinion was in favour of BJP.

Baroda assembly seat fell vacant after the demise of sitting Congress legislator Shri Krishan Hooda in April. No poll dates have yet been announced. Referring to the recent developments in Congress in Rajasthan, Dhankar said the opposition party leaders were fighting amongst themselves for the sake of power.

"Congress is a sinking ship, their own people are saying the party is going into depression," said Dhankar. "People want to give us a chance. They want to see accelerated development and BJP is committed to Baroda's development," he said.

Former Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who also addressed a meeting of his party MLAs on Tuesday, claimed the BJP government has done no work in Baroda despite being in power for six years in Haryana and said the people will not be distracted by the "non-issues" being raised by the ruling party. Hooda had recently thrown a challenge at Khattar saying if the chief minister is so sure of development works carried out by his government then he must jump into fray from Baroda.

The Congress leader had said he is ready to take on Khattar if he decides to contest. "Hooda had said such big things in Jind bypoll (last year) also, you saw the result. He is in habit of saying many things, he believes in saying things, we believe in performance," Khattar said Tuesday. Asked about Hooda dubbing the three farm-related ordinances promulgated by the Centre as "anti-farmers", Khattar said he was trying to "mislead" the peasants.

He also said the BJP governments at the Centre and in the state have taken several pro-farmer decisions during the past six years. "Congress should stop misleading the farmers. Why should they have a problem when farmers will have full freedom to sell their produce anywhere and directly market it," Dhankar added.