Hooda announces mega rally in Rohtak on Aug 18

Former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Friday said that a 'Parivartan Maha Rally' would be held in Rohtak on August 18 to dislodge the "corrupt and non-performing" M L Khattar government in the upcoming assembly election.

The senior Congress leader said that he would be holding a meeting of the party workers in Rohtak on August 4.

"The present government in Haryana has failed on all fronts. People are waiting for the polls in October to oust this corrupt and non-performing government," Hooda told reporters here hours before the monsoon session of the state assembly commenced.

"We will be holding a Parivartan Maha Rally in Rohtak on August 18, which will signal the countdown and eventually lead to dislodging of this government in the polls," he added.

A few days ago, a majority of the 17 Congress MLAs in the House, considered to be Hooda's loyalists, had met in New Delhi to discuss the current political scenario in the state.

"The public mood is against this government. We have formulated a strategy to throw out this regime. At the Rohtak rally, we will spell out how the countdown of this government has begun and we will oust it from power," Hooda said.

"Contrary to their claims of showing zero tolerance towards corruption, the truth is that corruption is rampant in all spheres," he added.

"This government has been hit by various scams including cash-for-jobs scam, illegal mining scam, post-metric scholarship and other scams. They have maintained transparency in loot," he said further.

Asked about BJP's claims that it would win more than 75 of the 90 assembly seats, Hooda replied, "It does not matter whatever claims they make. But the people have made up their mind to throw them out."

"The issues in Lok Sabha polls and Vidhan Sabha polls are different. In the Vidhan Sabha election, people will cast their votes by judging the performance of the Khattar government," he added.

"In the Lok Sabha election, they (BJP) raised the issue of pseudo nationalism," Hooda said when asked if the BJP's victory on all 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana will have a bearing on the assembly polls result.

Asked if the Congress was likely to enter an alliance for the state election, he said, "No decision has been taken on this... However, we can have a tie-up with like-minded parties. People are looking for a strong alternative and the Congress can provide that."

The Congress will raise the issues of employees welfare, farmers distress, law and order, various scams among other issues during the monsoon session of the Assembly, Hooda said.