The people of Haryana will change their destiny with their votes: Hooda

Narnaul/Charkhi Dadri/Bhiwani (March 27, 2019) Haryana Ab Tak: Congress General Secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad has said India has achieved self-sufficiency in food due to the partnership between the farmers and the Congress party and the party continues to support the farmer though its most trying period.

Speaking during the Parivartan Yatra in the Charkhi Dadri, Azad said India’s population at the time of independence was 32 crore and we did not have enough to eat. The Congress, in partnership with the Indian farmer, has not only made India self-sufficient in food, but has also made India a food exporter. The Parivartan Yatra, under the leadership of Shri Azad and former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who also is the chairman of the coordination committee,  started from Narnaul on Wednesday and travelled through Mahendragarh and Dadri before reaching Dadri.

Speaking at the Yatra, Shri Azad said Congress and farmers fought together for India’s freedom and the fight started when Mahatma Gandhi came out to fight for the farmers in Champaran which ultimately forced the British to leave the country. He said the Congress continues to stand strongly with the farmers and the poor. “It was under the Congress that MSP was declared and our party led the country into the green revolution. The farmers of Haryana are 24 carat gold and I am sure that they would avenge the anti-farmer policies followed by the BJP government,” he said.

Talking about the developing political situation, Azad said the Parivartan Yatra would change the political landscape of the state and the party will teach a fitting lesson to the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections which is seeking to divide our people along communal and caste lines. “The BJP seeks to retain power on the basis of these divisions but the people have understood their games and would not be led by their divisive agenda,” he said.

“Under the BJP rule, farmers have to move from pillar to post to sell their produce at MSP. The BJP had promised two crore jobs a year in the last Lok Sabha elections but their leaders have stopped talking about it. Government employees have been exploited. The BJP gave the slogan of Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao but crime against women have seen an exponential rise,” he added.

Coordination Committee Chairperson and former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said the BJP government had brought distress to all sections of the society and people of the state are remembering the days when the Congress was running the state.

“We brought back the slab scheme, waived bills of Rs 1,600 crore, ensured fair prices to all farmers in the state, gave 100 square yard plots to the poor, ensured cheap grains and gave scholarships to children from poor families. In addition to this, we waived agricultural loans for more than Rs 2000 crore and brought an end to the provisions which allowed the arrest of farmers and auction of their land, in case they defaulted on loan repayments,” Hooda said, talking about the work done by the Congress during his term in office.

Talking about the development work done in the area, Hooda said the area was added in the NCR, a central university was set up in Mahendragarh, the Chaudhary Bansi Lal University and medical college was set up in Bhiwani. “The BJP government may have declared Dadri to be a district but the fact is that the entire infrastructure was developed by the Congress. We created the mini-secretariat, 100-bed hospital, Kisan Model School, two overbridges, polytechnic, ITI, water treatment plant, new Anaj Mandi and Sabji Mandi,” he said.

The former Chief Minister accused the BJP government of usurping the land of farmers at dismal rates. “The government is not offering market rates to farmers whose lands have been acquired for the construction of National Highway 152D, which will not be tolerated,” Hooda said.

Hooda said Congress is the only party which takes all sections of the state along. He said Congress president Rahul Gandhi had assured the farmers that their loans will be waived when the Congress returns to power. Every Indian would be entitled to minimum annual income of Rs 72,000 and Congress has proved that it delivers on its pre-poll promises after implementing loan-waiver scheme for farmers in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan within two days.

Calling on all Congress supporters to ensure a victory for the Congress on all the 10 seats in the state, Hooda said the Parivartan Yatra has clearly shown that the Congress family is united and all party candidates, including Shruti Chaudhary from Bhiwani-Mahendragarh will win. “Once the Congress is elected in the centre, the government in Haryana would collapse like a house of cards,” he said.

Among those who accompanied the former Chief Minister included PCC president Ashok Tanwar, CLP leader Smt Kiran Chaudhary, former Lok Sabha MP Shruti Chaudhary, former Speaker and sitting MLA Kuldeep Sharma, former CPS Rao Dan Singh, former Minister Rao Narendra Singh, former CPS Anita Yadav, former MLA Naresh Yadav, former MLA Radhe Shyam Sharma and former Minister Satpal Sangwan and former MLA Ranbir Mahendra.