They are the show stoppers for their respective parties BJP and Congress—Manohar Lal Khattar and Bhupinder Singh Hooda—in Haryana and they are leaving nothing to chance as they intensify their campaign ahead of the October 21 elections.
Khattar on Thursday addressed as many as eight rallies starting from 10.20 am to 9.30 pm from various parts of the State including Ateli, Loharu, Kiloi, Pundri, Siwan, Kaithal, Asandh and Karnal.
In his rallies, Chief Minister Khattar is focussing on equal development of state without any regional discrimination claiming that even opposition leaders are astonished the way development in Haryana has taken place in the last five years.
On the other hand, Congress Legislative Party leader and former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda addressed around half dozen rallies in the state emphasising that Unemployment is the biggest issue and has increased 10 times to 28 per cent, highest in the country. He says no new industry is coming up and the government is busy in event management.
EQUAL DEVELOPMENT ACROSS THE STATE, SAYS KHATTAR
Chief Minister Khattar, speaking at a Vijay Sankalp Rally in Mahendragarh to support party candidate Sitaram Yadav said that on forming the government in Haryana, all the MLAs of 90 constituencies were asked to make a list of development projects they wish to execute in their areas within a range of Rs five crores. Since, the allocation was made without any discrimination, all the opposition leaders were surprised on the way of working of this government. Even the supporters and volunteers of BJP were surprised because no one had earlier seen this model of development. He said that the policy of development was equal for the people of BJP as well as for the MLAs of other parties.
Drawing the attention of the gathering towards the performance of his government, Khattar said that in the state there have been governments of many parties including some of the alliance governments, but if the comparison is made in the development of the state these five years would certainly be leaving behind the performance of the previous governments in 48 years. He said that we have changed the meaning of politics altogether. Corruption has been totally removed from the state and the poor man is living a comfortable life in the state.
He said that while the congress party kept shouting slogans of “Garibi Hatao” it actually never worked in this direction. In fact, they should have taken steps to educate the poor so that they can try to explore employment opportunities. He said the government has provided LPG gas in 9 lakhs households. He said that in spite of code of conduct being in force at present, still anyone not having LPG cylinder in the state can apply and it is assured that the LPG would be provided to him in a matter of 48 hours. He further stepped forward and said that since it is the festival of lights on 27th, if any application of LPG is not taken care of, he will take the official concerned to task on 28th itself.
CM said that there are 300 end points of the water drains that carries the water to fields. Nothing happened in the last 48 years. However, in the rule of BJP the matter was taken on priority and now all these three points are getting water.
He said that his government is committed to provide water and electricity to every field. Comparing the commitment towards social good, Khattar informed the gathering that while the BJP government in Haryana has announced 7900 people centric schemes in its five year tenure, Congress made only 6000 announcements that too in the period of ten years. Regarding actual implementation 80 per cent of all the announcements made reached actual implementation and others to be followed soon.
Accusing the congress party for shattering the education system in the state, CM said that one of the major reasons of the debacle of system was that the teachers were not happy with the transfer policy of the congress government. He said that in Congress regime, any teacher not casting vote to Congress was transferred to some remote area. On the contrary, the BJP government has made necessary changes to the transfer and posting policy in which the basic principle is to transfer the teachers to the place of their choice. This will make them happy and they will devote much attention to their work, which, in-turn will strengthen the education system.
CM Manoharlal said that the BJP government in state is working in the direction to enhance the income of the farmers to double. He said that if the people of Haryana want to witness the growth of the state continuing in future also, they should vote to BJP only.
HOODA COUNTERS NATIONALISM PITCH OF BJP
Countering BJP''s nationalism pitch in the Haryana Assembly polls, former chief minister Hooda says the Congress is the party which secured Independence and it was under its rule that Pakistan split into two. Hooda said the October 21 assembly polls are a direct fight between the Congress and the BJP in the Haryana polls as both the JJP and the INLD have become "irrelevant".
Hooda''s remarks dismissing the Jannayak Janta Party and the Indian National Lok Dal as having "no role" post polls comes after Congress' former Haryana unit president Ashok Tanwar announced his support for Dushyant Chautala-led JJP.
On BJP’s claims of getting 75 plus seats in the 90-member assembly, Hooda said, "Hawa palat chuki hai (the wind has changed direction)." The Congress'' election management committee chief also asserted that his party would get an "absolute majority" and form the next government.
"There is a wave in favour of the Congress. Based on the support the party is getting, I believe a Congress government is going to be formed in Haryana," he said.
On BJP aggressively raising the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir in the state polls, Hooda said, "As far as Article 370 is concerned, the whole country knows about my views. But it is not an election issue as it has now become a law." It is the law of the land and nobody is opposing it, the two-time chief minister said, adding that there is only one issue now and that is establishing peace in Kashmir.
On the BJP making nationalism and Article 370 its main poll plank, he said, "Congress ke samay mein toh Pakistan ke do tukde ho gaye the (Under the Congress rule, Pakistan split into two). This (Article 370) is not an issue."
"The issues for electing Members of Parliament were different while the issues of these polls are different... local issues are important. The BJP government had made 154 promises, but it has not even fulfilled even one and because of this all sections be it farmers, traders, officials, labourers -- are not happy," the senior Congress leader said.
"Everyone is a nationalist. Who is not a nationalist in this country? My father was a nationalist, my grandfather was a freedom fighter. It was the Congress that secured independence for the country," he said.
When asked if he could be the next chief minister of the state, Hooda evaded a direct answer, saying the aim right now is to form a Congress government.
"In national parties, the sitting chief minister is the face. And in the case of someone who is not the sitting CM, the MLAs and the high command decide. This is true for both the Congress and the BJP," he asserted.
On people at rallies saying he is their CM choice, he remarked that it was "people''s sentiments".
Dismissing Tanwar''s backing to the JJP, he said a person who has resigned from the party can go anywhere he wants and support anybody.
The veteran leader also dismissed the "Modi factor" in polls, saying people are talking about the failures of the Haryana government and the achievements of his government between 2005-14. "People will not get diverted, they are intelligent," he asserted. Highlighting the promises made by his party in its manifesto, Hooda said loans of farmers will be waived. Hooda said, "Unemployment is the biggest issue. Unemployment rate that was at 2.8 per cent has increased 10 times to 28 per cent, highest in the country. No new industry is coming up. The government is busy in event management." Hitting out at Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar for his remarks against Sonia Gandhi recently, Hooda said a person sitting in a position of responsibility should make responsible comments. Anyone making irresponsible statements should be condemned, he added.