CHANDIGARH: Leader of Opposition and former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Wednesday talked of creating a Vishal (Greater) Haryana as the state was the result of a division of East Punjab between Punjabi-speaking and Hindi-speaking areas.
Hooda suggested that some districts of western Uttar Pradesh should be merged to form a greater Haryana with its capital at Delhi.
Hooda also slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) government, which today completed one month, saying “it has not been able to even finalise its common minimum programme in this time.”
“This government has been formed on the basis of selfishness. Vote kisi ki, support kisi aur ko (votes were given to someone different and support is given to someone else). The mandate should be respected in a democracy.’’
Admitting that there was abnormal delay in announcing the new state leadership by the party high command and also much delay in ticket allocation, Hooda said had both the decisions been taken in advance the Congress could have been in a position to return to power.
“That was a blemish on our part as we were caught short of campaign time. Still, we managed to increase our seats from 15 (in 2014 Assembly elections) to 31,” he said.