Page 2 - Bhupinder Singh Hooda

Can Congress be third-time lucky in upcoming Haryana Assembly polls?

Dushyant Chautala's Jannayak Janta Party is outvoted by NOTA as Congress secures five Lok Sabha seats. ARCHIS MOHAN writes

BJP failed to tackle issues like inflation, unemployment: Bhupinder Hooda

Former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Tuesday said that farmers' plight, Agnipath, unemployment, law and order, and inflation were key issues which the ruling BJP failed to address. As the Congress appeared set to wrest five Lok Sabha seats from the ruling BJP in Haryana, Hooda said that he had been saying "there is a wave blowing in favour of the Congress". "You asked me about exit polls predicting most seats to the BJP, to which I said wait for the actual poll results on June 4," the Congress veteran said. Haryana is known for "jai jawan, jai kisan, jai pehalwan". "But what did they (BJP) do. They brought Agniveer (Agnipath scheme), which faced opposition from the youth. They did not redress farmers' issues. And everyone knows the treatment that was meted to our wrestler daughters, who had to protest (at Delhi's Jantar Mantar)," he said. Hooda said that unemployment increased in the state during the BJP rule while the law and order situation also deteriorated. H

Lok Sabha results: Trends indicate a strong hand for Congress in Haryana

Congress' Varun Chaudhry is leading in Ambala, Kumari Selja in Sirsa, Jai Parkash in Hisar, Satpal Brahmchari in Sonipat, Deepender Singh Hooda in Rohtak and Raj Babbar in Gurgaon

Cong aims to turn 3.2 mn unemployed into govt employees within year: Hooda

The Congress aims to turn 32 lakh unemployed people into government employees within a year, former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said on Saturday. Hooda, who campaigned for the Congress' Faridabad candidate Mahendra Pratap Singh, also said the people of Haryana have made up their mind to shatter the BJP's "arrogance". All communities are going to vote unanimously for the Congress to protect the country's Constitution and democracy, he said. After a victory in the Lok Sabha elections, it is certain that a Congress government will also be formed in Haryana, the former chief minister said. "A Congress government will not allow unemployment and criminals to remain in Haryana. The Congress' guarantee is to provide (legal) guarantee for minimum support prices for crops, Rs 6,000 as pensions to the elderly, fill 30 lakh vacant posts in the Centre and two lakh vacant posts in Haryana," he said. Hooda, the Leader of Opposition in the Haryana Assembly, also said, "For the la

Lok Sabha polls: Congress set for clean sweep in Haryana, says Hooda

Congress veteran Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Thursday said people are looking at his party with great hope and it is set for a clean sweep in Haryana in the Lok Sabha elections. The former chief minister said the Congress is receiving overwhelming public support. Voting for the 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana will be held in the sixth round of the seven-phase elections on May 25. While the Congress is contesting nine seats, its INDIA bloc ally AAP has fielded its candidate from the Kurukshetra constituency. "People are looking at the Congress with great hope and there is a wave in our favour," Hooda said, exuding confidence that his party and its ally AAP will win all the 10 seats in Haryana. He also exuded confidence that the INDIA bloc will form the next government at the Centre. Targeting the BJP dispensation in Haryana, the leader of opposition in the Haryana Assembly said it is a "non-performing government" and "every section is fed up with it". On the BJP replacing Manohar Lal

Will not fight LS polls, son Deepender likely to contest: Bhupinder Hooda

Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Tuesday ruled out the possibility of him contesting the Lok Sabha elections and said a discussion was on within the party about fielding his son Deepender Singh Hooda from the Rohtak seat. "There is no intention that both of us will fight. I am also the Leader of the Opposition (in Haryana) and the Assembly polls are nearing. So I don't have any intention (to fight the parliamentary election)," the former Haryana chief minister told reporters in Rohtak. Replying to a question, the senior Congress leader said discussion is on within the party about fielding Deepender Singh Hooda from the Rohtak parliamentary seat. He said that he does not have any intention to fight the Lok Sabha polls when Deepender enters the fray. The final decision on the matter will be taken by the party, he added. Bhupinder Singh Hooda said if senior party leaders, Randeep Singh Surjewala or Kumari Selja, decide to fight the Lok Sabha polls "we will be happy". Notably,

Failed budget of a failed government in Haryana: Bhupinder Singh Hooda

Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Friday dubbed the Haryana budget, presented in the Assembly by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, as a "failed budget of a failed government". There is nothing much in the budget and it has disappointed every section of the society, Hooda, the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, said. Khattar on Friday announced waiver of interest and penalty on certain crop loans and did not hike taxes as he presented a Rs 1.89 lakh crore budget for the 2024-25 financial year. Criticising the government over the budget, Hooda said, "Everyone in the state will have debt on their head, responsibility will be only with the people, all employment will become private." "The public was hopeful that since it was an election budget, at least in the announcement, people would get some relief this time from inflation, unemployment, exorbitant taxes and economic recession. But the government dashed the public's expectations," he said. He said the BJP-JJP coalition

Amid ongoing protest, govt should hold talks with protesting farmers: Hooda

Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Thursday said the Centre should immediately hold talks with the protesting farmers to resolve their issues, terming the prevailing situation arising out of the stir as "worrisome". The former chief minister also appealed to the farmers to maintain peace. "The situation which prevails is worrisome. The government should immediately hold talks with farmers and resolve the issue," Hooda, who is Leader of the Opposition in Haryana, told reporters here on the sidelines of the ongoing Budget session of the state assembly. Farmers leaders on Wednesday put the 'Delhi Chalo' march on hold for two days after a protester was killed and about 12 police personnel injured in clashes at Khanauri, one of the two protest sites on the Punjab-Haryana border. Thousands of farmers will remain camped at the two border points during the pause in the agitation over their demands, including a legal guarantee for minimum support price (MSP) for crops and farm debt ..

CBI files charge sheet against Bhupinder Hooda's former principal secy

The CBI has filed a charge sheet against retired IAS officer Murari Lal Tayal, who was the principal secretary of former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, for allegedly amassing assets worth Rs 14 crore which were disproportionate to his known sources of income, officials said on Friday. In its charge sheet filed before the Panchkula Special Court on Thursday, the CBI alleged that Tayal, his wife Savita and son Kartik acquired assets worth Rs 14.06 crore during 2006-14 which were 81.11 per cent above their legitimate sources of income, they said. The agency filed its report after more than six years of probe against Tayal, a 1976-batch IAS officer who was Hooda's principal secretary during 2005-2009. The CBI had registered an FIR against Tayal, his Savita Tayal and other family members in 2017 for allegedly amassing disproportionate assets. The FIR was based on the findings of the agency in Manesar land scam case in which Tayal was also under scanner. After retirement i

ED questions former Haryana CM Bhupinder Hooda in money laundering case

Former Haryana chief minister and senior Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda was on Wednesday questioned by the ED in connection with a money laundering investigation into alleged irregularities in land acquisition at Manesar during 2004-07, official sources said. The agency recorded the statement of the 76-year-old Hooda under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), they said. The Enforcement Directorate probe pertains to "illegal" acquisition of land in Haryana's Manesar between 2004 and 2007 with the alleged connivance of senior government functionaries and bureaucrats. Several farmers and land owners had alleged that they had been cheated to the tune of about Rs 1,500 crore in this land acquisition case. The agency had filed a PMLA case in the alleged land scam deal in September, 2016 on the basis of a Haryana Police FIR. The CBI too is probing the case.

No seat-sharing talks yet with AAP in Haryana: Cong's Bhupinder Hooda

Former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Friday said there has been no seat-sharing talks with the Aam Aadmi Party in Haryana and it will happen only after some criteria are set. Asked whether the Congress was willing to share seats with AAP in the parliamentary elections, Hooda evaded the query by calling it a "hypothetical question". He was speaking to the media after the re-joining of former minister Nirmal Singh into the party. Singh, who had quit the Congress in 2019 to join AAP, rejoined the grand old party on Friday. To the question of whether Singh's action would affect the party's ties with AAP in Haryana, which is an ally of the INDIA bloc, Hooda said there has been no seat-sharing arrangement with AAP yet. "The INDIA alliance is a good and strong step, but there has been no decision yet on the seat-sharing between allies of the opposition bloc. In a democracy, both the ruling and the opposition sides need to be strong and this is the first step," he told .

Raj Congress observers meet Kharge, brief him on Legislature Party meeting

The Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government was dethroned by the BJP in Rajasthan as the assembly election results, declared on December 3, established a clear majority for the BJP in the state

OPS vs NPS: Why did government employees hold a rally at Ramlila Maidan?

The protesters said that the party which promises to restore the old pension scheme should be voted to power in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls

Implementation of OPS will be done in 1st cabinet meeting: Bhupinder Hooda

"When our government will come, we will implement the OPS scheme in the first cabinet meeting," he said

Haryana govt failed in ensuring security to people: Hooda on violence

Former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Saturday slammed the BJP-JJP government over the violence in Nuh district, accusing it of failing in its responsibility of ensuring security to the people. He said the Congress will raise the issue in the assembly. Six people, including two home guards and a cleric, died in the clashes that erupted in Muslim-dominated Nuh when a Vishva Hindu Parishad procession was attacked by mobs on Monday and later spread to Gurugram and its adjoining areas. "A large number of people have been affected by this violence. Some houses and shops were attacked and people lost their lives. The state's economy will also be affected due to the breakdown of law and order," Hooda said. It is the government's responsibility to provide security to the people. But the present government has "failed" to do so, the Congress leader said in a party release. "Why has this situation come up today? The right steps were not taken at the right time to stop the .

Fight is against unemployment, price rise, crime in Haryana: Hooda

Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Sunday said that their fight is against unemployment, price rise, crime, drug addiction in Haryana. Addressing a 'Vipak Aapke Samaksh' outreach programme at Bhiwani, the former chief minister expressed his anguish over the "decline of Haryana from the number one state in the country in 2014 in per capita income, investment, job creation, law and order, and sports to topping now in unemployment, inflation and crime.." "My aim is not to become chief minister, but is to end unemployment, inflation, crime, drug addiction from Haryana," Hooda, who is Leader of the Opposition asserted. He said today every section is "troubled and unhappy" with this government. He said the BJP-led government had promised to double the income of the farmers but doubled the input costs instead. "During our government, there was no tax on fertilizers, no tax on pesticides, no tax on tractor parts. Today, there is no compensation for crop failure. Yesterday Rahul Gand

Haryana tops in inflation, unemployment, crime: Ex-CM Bhupinder Hooda

Reacting to the report, Hooda said inflation in the state has become so alarming that it has crossed the highest level fixed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), along with all states

Teachings of Sant Kabir relevant even in modern times: Bhupinder Hooda

Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Sunday said the teachings of Sant Kabir are relevant even in modern times and called the mystic poet and saint an epitome of human virtue. The former Haryana chief minister in Rohtak at an event extended greetings to the people on the occasion of Sant Kabir Jayanti, and called the a social reformer, a thinker, critic, writer, guide, philosopher, poet, scholar, visionary, and an ideological movement in himself. "Sant Kabir is our guide. Hindus and Muslims alike considered him as their own. His couplets are still remembered by all of us," he said and quoted some of his famous 'dohas.' According to a statement, Hooda, who is the Leader of Opposition in Haryana Assembly, said the teachings of Sant Kabir are also more relevant in today's era when some people are trying to create divisions on the basis of caste and religion for their political gains. "We believe that every political party should take inspiration from the thoughts of Kabir Das ji

1.5 mn tonnes wheat lying in state mandis, getting wet due to rains: Hooda

Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Tuesday blamed the BJP-JJP government for the delay in the lifting of wheat crop and the acute lack of arrangements in mandis. The former Haryana chief minister alleged that lakhs of metric tonnes of wheat in the mandis got wet in the rain due to the negligence of the government. While the Meteorological Department had several days in advance predicted a wet spell at the beginning of May after which despite repeated demands by the Congress, the government neither arranged for the lifting of the crop from the mandis nor provided tarpaulin and bags to protect the crop from rain, he claimed in a statement here. "15 lakh metric tonnes of wheat lying in the mandis of the state is getting wet, and the government remains a mute spectator. Due to the delay in lifting, the farmers have not even been paid. "Till now the government has also not even given compensation for the crop damage due to rains that happened in the past..." the Leader of Oppositi

Congress fully prepared, even if elections are held today, says Hooda

Former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Sunday said the Congress is fully prepared for the assembly elections, even if the polls are held today, and exuded confidence of registering a resounding win. The state is scheduled to go to polls towards the end of next year. "Congress is fully prepared and we will register a resounding win...People of Haryana are eagerly waiting for the elections and have made up their mind to vote out the BJP-JJP alliance and form the Congress government," Hooda said. Speaking on the ongoing protest of the country's top wrestlers in Delhi, the Congress leader said an impartial inquiry into the matter is necessary. It is an unfortunate situation if the sportspersons, who have brought glory to the entire country all over the world, have to protest like this," he said. Country's top wrestlers, including Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat, returned to protest site Jantar Mantar on Sunday and demanded that the government makes public the findings