CHANDIGARH: In the slog overs of his second innings as Haryana Chief Minister, Bhupinder Singh Hooda is playing the captain’s knock to ensure there is a third innings as well. As the undisputed Congress leader in the state, his final stamp of approval is there in allotment of all tickets, besides he had made announcements galore, trying to please all sections of society with an estimated Rs 2,500 crore.
No section of the population has been left not wooed. State employees, farmers, sportspersons, senior citizens, those belonging to schedule castes and backward classes, Jats, weaker sections of society, the police, men, women and children, are all part of his grand reach out plans.
The number of announcements made by Hooda in the last couple of months has been mind-boggling. He had tried to please more than 81 lakh voters out of the total 1.62 crore in the state. The 14-lakh Sikh voters got a separate gurdwara committee. Eighteen lakh voters got social security benefits; the old age and widow pension increased, farmers in future will not have to pay interest on crop loans, provided they pay the principal on time.
To please the 34 lakh voters-strong reserved population, a Rs 154 crore loan taken from Scheduled Caste Welfare Corporation and Haryana Backward Class Corporation by 1.25 lakh beneficiaries was waived off. For 5 lakh state employees, the retirement age was raised from 58 to 60 years. Pay scales of employees were hiked to be on par with the Punjab government. The services of thousands of temporary employees were regularised. The government also hiked the medical and children education allowance by Rs 250 per month and made it payable since Janaury 2014.
He had the final word on selection of candidates too.
Hooda made sure tickets went to his loyalists, leaving all other senior party functionaries seething with anger. Hooda also made sure all the alleged accused sitting MLAs who were caught on camera demanding money for Change of Land Use got tickets despite state Congress president Ashok Tanwar opposing this.