Congress to launch 'Haryana Maange Hisab' campaign against BJP government on July 15

Chandigarh: With Assembly polls scheduled later this year, the Haryana Congress on Thursday released a 'charge sheet' against the state's BJP government, targeting it on issues such as unemployment and law and order, and said it will launch 'Haryana Maange Hisab Abhiyan' on July 15.

The campaign will highlight the failures of the state government, state Congress chief Udai Bhan, who along with former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda addressed a press conference here, said.

Several other senior Congress leaders, including former Union minister Birender Singh, Lok Sabha MPs Deepender Singh Hooda, Varun Chaudhary and Satpal Brahmachari also attended the event.

Presenting the 'charge sheet' against the BJP's 10-year rule in the state, Bhan said the government has failed on various fronts, including employment generation, law and order and protecting farmers.

"Through this statewide drive from July 15, we will not only highlight and expose the failures of the government, but our workers and leaders will also seek suggestions from the public which we will incorporate in our poll manifesto," Bhupinder Hooda said.

"When our party forms the government, people's problems can be solved effectively," he said.

Bhan claimed that unemployment has increased in Haryana, with two lakh government posts lying vacant, including 60,000 in the education sector and 20,000 each in the police and health sectors. He added that various scams and paper leaks have taken place during the current BJP regime.

Haryana today is the most unsafe state, with the crime graph rising, he said.

Pointing towards 15 issues the Congress has raised in its 'charge sheet', Bhan also alleged that atrocities on Dalits have increased, while crimes against women were on the rise.

The Congress leader said traders in the state receive extortion calls as criminals have no fear and drug menace has risen under the BJP rule, affecting the youths.

He said 750 farmers died during the agitation against the now-repealed farm laws, and added that farmers only received 'lathis' during this regime.

Bhan also said that he and Hooda will undertake a 'Rath Yatra' in the state after August 20.

On the INLD and the BSP tying up for Haryana Assembly polls, Hooda said, like in the Lok Sabha polls, in state assembly polls too, "people will not give vote to 'vote katu' (vote cutters) parties. There is no place for such parties in Haryana. The fight is between the Congress and the BJP".

Replying to a question, Bhan reiterated that the Congress was capable of fighting all 90 seats on its own.

To a related query, Hooda said there has been no talk regarding any alliance formation for the Haryana polls.

On who will be the chief minister if the Congress came to power, he reiterated that MLAs and the high command will decide that.

Targeting the BJP, Birender Singh alleged that the party which plays divisive politics should not even be an alternative party in the country's politics.

Singh, who had joined the BJP in 2014 after snapping four-decade-old ties with the Congress, rejoined the grand old party earlier this year.

When he had left Congress in 2014, Singh was considered as Hooda's bete noire.