CHANDIGARH: The Congress flagged off its campaign for the Haryana Assembly Elections, slated for October, with Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s ‘Vijay Sankalp’ rally in Panipat, where he criticised his political opponents and detractors and urged the people to use their ballots to give a fitting reply those, who had insulted their elected representatives.
And the rally passed a resolution condemning the Kaithal incident, in which Hooda was heckled by the BJP supporters in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The CM said he had received an intelligence tip-off that some people might create trouble at the official function, but he had refused to believe it since he was sure that everybody would uphold the dignity of the Prime Minister.
According to him, the people of Haryana wanted to know who were the troublemakers at the official function. However, the CM cautioned the voters not to stoop to the level of the troublemakers but to use their vote judiciously to register their protest.
Hooda, while trashing the graft charges levelled by the INLD against his government, said the people of the state were the strength of the Congress and himself.
The CM challenged that if any of the allegations were proved, he would quit politics, but added that he would seek the answer in the court.
Hooda also referred to the statement of BJP president Amit Shah, saying that the party wanted to form the government with the support of defectors. He also slammed his detractors, saying that they had been praising him for the last 16 years, but were now complaining that there was zero governance in the state. “Janta Sab Janti Hai,” (people know everything) he said.
Hooda also vowed to give a fitting reply to the Centre if it tried to change policies like MGNREGA and Right to Food Act. He said that ever since the BJP Government came to power at the Centre, they were saying that such schemes would be reviewed. He reminded that the Sikhs in the state had been demanding their right to serve the Gurus. The manifesto of the party included the formation of a separate Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee, which has now been fulfilled.
Addressing the gathering, state Congress chief Ashok Tanwar said leaders who were leaving the party would soon realise their mistake.