Hooda buries 'jeering' incident, meets Modi

Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Friday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, three days after announcing that he would not share the stage with him. Hooda’s office claimed that the chief minister was invited by Modi.

However, there was no confirmation on this from the Prime Minister’s Office. The PMO, in fact, issued a terse one-line statement that said Hooda had called on the prime minister. A photograph of Hooda chatting amiably with Modi was released by the PMO.

Hooda is understood to have discussed issues related to Centre-state finances and its running water dispute with  Punjab and Delhi. “I fully respect the constitutional post of the prime minister. We discussed such issues concerning Haryana as fall under the purview of the central government,” Hooda was quoted as saying by agencies.

The Haryana chief minister was left fuming on Tuesday after he was jeered at by a crowd at a function in Kaithal, where Modi laid the foundation stone of a project to widen the national highway up to the Rajasthan border.

Hooda claimed that the crowd comprised BJP activists and declared that he would not share the stage with Modi at public events.