Govt has borrowed heavily but there's no development: Bhupinder Singh Hooda

Bhupinder Singh Hooda, former Chief Minister of Haryana, tells Shikha Shalini that the BJP-led government in Haryana has run the state to the ground and will be rejected by the people in the next election. Edited excerpts:

After the last elections, a non-political person was asked to helm Haryana, ignoring the social realities of Haryana politics. What has been the impact of this on the politics of the state?

There was rapid development in the state during the period I was Chief Minister. When I demitted office in 2014, Haryana was on top of the list of states showing rapid growth, with high per capita income and per capita investment.  

But today Haryana has regressed badly. The state has suffered financially and its debt has increased. The total debt in the 2013 budget was Rs 600 billion but in Haryana’s last budget, the total debt was Rs 16 trillion. The government has borrowed so much but there is no development in the state. The current government specialises in event management and publicity. 

I can give you the details of work I did in the field of education, the power sector etc. But the current government has nothing to its credit. We started the power project in Yamunanagar. The country’s second National Institute of Design opened in Kurukshetra. The Kalpana Chawla Medical College was opened in Karnal during my tenure. The only medical college for women in India was in Delhi but a second one was opened in Khanpur. We have built the country's first defence university in Gurugram. An AIIMS and a National Cancer Institute was established in Jhajjar. In Rohtak, we set up an IIM and started work on a University of Visual and Performing Arts. Two power plants established in Jhajjar. Expansion of Metro from Delhi to Haryana and Rapid Metro was started in Gurugram during my period….

This government, on the other hand, has done no work on the expansion of the metro or rail line in the last four years. No university or educational institution has been opened. After completing four years, the Haryana government has said total investment has amounted to around Rs 80 billion. They said the Kalpana Chawla Medical College would become a medical university. But till today, not a single brick has been laid there. Rather its name has been changed to Deen Dayal Upadhyay. This is their achievement. Farmers  are on the brink of devastation. They are not even getting the MSP (Minimum Support Price) here. This government’s job is simply to organise meetings and rallies without any purpose.

The Congress position is very weak in the country, don’t you think this will impact Haryana politics?

Congress is strong in Haryana. We do public meetings as part of the Janakranti Yatra in which millions of people take part. We describe the achievements of our government and the failure of the present government. The Prime Minister also visited the state but the crowds were absent. 

Will the Congress come forward to project a chief ministerial face in the assembly or Lok Sabha elections?

The Congress will make the right decision at the right time. We are soldiers of the party and we will help the Congress. Definitely, it will come to power in the state. I always say to the people of Haryana: I do not make false promises and show false dreams like this government. If our government comes to power then I will bring back the days when everybody was happy, the farmers were prosperous, industry was in a better position. 

We built the Industrial Model Township (IMT) for which land was acquired to convert it in to a logistics hub. This government has not acquired any land and no IMT is being set up. We made IMT in Faridabad, Kharkoda, Rohtak. They advertised the plot but got no applications. Farmers, labourers, businessmen, government employees… all are unhappy.

What is your expectations regarding Jat reservation? It is said that you provoked the Jat reservation movement?

As far as Jat reservation is concerned, we have not taken away anyone else’s right; and we have not left anyone out. We took care of everyone during my period whether they were Rajput, Brahmin or Punjabi. The present government changed their affidavit in the Supreme Court. 

I was in power for 10 years in Haryana and of course, there were many movements. But there was no loss of  life or property. After the agitation, this government formed a committee with Prakash Singh as chairman. Ministers made statements that the Prakash Singh Committee was investigating and everything would be clear. But where is Prakash Singh’s report today? The fact is, the committee blamed the government for the loss of life and property. Today, they would rather not refer to it.

But Congress has not been successful in making it a big issue among the people of Haryana…

It’s not that. They are exposed now. To create a vote bank, they put the lives and property of the people at risk. A separate commission was made to emasculate the earlier committee that this very government set up. There is no capability in this government to control such situations.

If Congress will come in to the power what will be the decision about reservations for Jats?

The current government has copied our decisions. We had given an assurance. Our straightforward policy is that we will neither provoke anyone nor leave anyone behind.

How much difficulty do you anticipate in the next election because of the investigation and chargesheet in the case of the land allotted to Associated Journals Limited (AJL), the group owning the Congress-linked National Herald newspaper?

There was no wrong done during my period. They are doing this for political retaliation. The AJL was allotted land in 1982. We restored it. Its price has been recovered. It was allotted to them according to rules and the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) has rectified the price. To hide their failures this party is forcing false cases on us. 

What about factionalism in Haryana Congress?

There is no factionalism in the Haryana Congress. This is just the imagination of newspapers at work. The Congress party has its own way of doing things. Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi are the main leaders of the Congress party. The other officers bearers keep changing. 

In Haryana, the issue of factionalism emerged from the discussions over the appointment of the State President. We have passed the proposal from our side to Rahul Gandhi who will decide. That person will be unanimously be the state president and everybody will accept the decision. There is no factionalism anywhere.

There is a family feud in the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD). Who will gain from this? The BJP has claimed many INLD MLAs are in touch with them...

I do not want to comment on any family or party's internal divisions. But I must say that what I said three years ago is coming true now. When the Haryana Government had completed a year in office, what we saw in the legislative assembly was that people had chosen INLD as the main opposition party but it was acting like a BJP's main alliance partner. 

The second thing I said was that INLD had been exposed in the eyes of the people — it does not talk about public interest, only self interest. I had also said by the time the next election comes around, the party will lose all vestiges of its existence on the ground. Just wait till the next election: the INLD and BJP will be nowhere to be seen and the Congress will emerge as the largest party in Haryana.

Haryana leaders had the responsibility the election campaign in Rajasthan. Do you think you have been able to mobilize Jats for the Congress?

There is a wave in the favour of the Congress in Rajasthan. Every class — whether it is a Gujjar  or Jat or any other — they all vote in favour of the Congress. Only Congress can bring development to them.