‘Haryana will teach a lesson to BJP and its B-teams’

With Haryana readying to go to polls on Saturday, the popular question is if Congress can improve its Lok Sabha performance enough to form govt in the state. Congress veteran and former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda talks to TOI about BJP’s anti-incumbency and other factors strengthening his party’s prospects:Infighting cost Congress in the last assembly polls and the state unit remains divided. How are you dealing with it this time?What the media calls infighting, Congress considers internal democracy. If the leaders of a party do not have different opinions, different likes and dislikes, or different ambitions, it shows there is no democracy in that party. If you want to see infighting and factionalism, please look at BJP. Today, the internal fighting has reached such a level that the new CM Nayab Singh Saini has removed the face of Manohar Lal Khattar, who was CM for nine and a half years, from his banners and posters.Congress won 5 out of 10 seats in the LS polls despite BJP’s performance dipping nationally. Did you fall short of your expectations?This happened in Haryana and the entire country because fake surveys and opinion polls were being shown, which claimed that BJP could be crossing 400 seats. If the public had been told the truth by the media in time, then there would have been an INDIA bloc govt at the Centre today and Congress would have won all the 10 seats in Haryana. Across the country, INDIA bloc got the highest votes (47.6%) in Haryana. Compared to 2019 Lok Sabha elections, BJP’s vote has decreased by 12% while Congress and its alliance’s votes have increased by about 20%. This time BJP has got only 46% votes, which is less than Congress’s. In every LS and Vidhan Sabha seat, Congress’s vote has increased while BJP’s vote has decreased.What’s the difference between 2019 assembly elections and the current one?There has been a significant change in the political landscape. If we look at the LS results in terms of Vidhan Sabha, the Congress alliance registered a huge victory in 46 Vidhan Sabha segments. In 2019, we had leads in only 10 assembly segments and yet, in 2019 assembly elections, Congress moved from 10 to 31 seats. This time we will make up for all the shortcomings of last time. Also, last time JJP betrayed the trust of the people. This time the public has understood that all the parties like JJP and INLD are BJP’s B-team.One of your main poll planks is unemployment. What’s your plan to create more good-quality private jobs?Private sector can be strengthened by improving law and order, providing a safe environment to businessmen and a positive environment for investment. This is what Congress did during its last tenure. When the Congress govt was formed in 2005, law and order was strengthened. Due to this, all the criminals and gangsters fled from Haryana. The govt also abolished inspector raj. This helped in improving the overall ecosystem for business and Haryana was the number one state in terms of per capita income in the entire country till 2014. Almost all the big industries, companies and institutions of the country were established in Haryana. But we are very sad to see that law and order has completely collapsed under BJP. Today businessmen and investors are not investing in the state. Companies are continuously migrating away.And to fill govt vacancies?BJP deliberately left loopholes in the recruitment process, due to which every recruitment got stuck in the court. To free the candidates from recruitment scams, paper leaks and court cases, Congress has made a recruitment schedule. First, all recruitment pending in BJP govt will be completed promptly, after that 2L permanent recruitments will be done on the basis of merit in a completely transparent manner.How critical are independents and AAP in this election?The public has understood that the contest is between Congress and BJP. Every vote cast to vote cutters will go to BJP’s account. Therefore, voters will give every single vote to Congress. Voters are also watching as the alliance of parties like INLD and JJP with BJP has become public. This time, the people of Haryana will teach a lesson to BJP and its B-teams through the power of their ballot.Should Congress get a chance to form the next govt, what’s your plan for the state’s farmers who have been protesting for a long time?Congress has announced a law guaranteeing MSP to give farmers a fair price for their crops. We will also put pressure on the central govt to give MSP to farmers on the C2 formula, as recommended by the Swaminathan report. We will free farmers from the hassle of the ‘Meri Fasal Mera Byora’ portal. A martyr’s memorial will be built for the farmers who died during the movement and their families will be given permanent jobs.