The Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) on Tuesday finalised the list of 195 delegates to bolster it’s rank and file at the ground level. This comes on a day, HPCC unanimously passed a resolution backing Rahul Gandhi for the post of party president.
While addressing the gathering at the meeting, former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda said that the party will welcome its leader Rahul Gandhi and others taking part in the ongoing Bharat Jodo yatra in a big way. Although the party’s senior leadership, including Kiran Choudhry and Randeep Surjewala were not present in the meeting, former HPCC chief Kumari Selja attended it.
Earlier, on Sunday, Choudhry, Surjewala and Selja, who are known to be Hooda detractors, met party’s central election authority Madhusudan Mistry and accused Hooda of ignoring them in finalising the list of delegates.
However, Hooda and HPCC chief Udai Bhan dismissed any claim of “factionalism” or “discontent” within the party and said that “Congress is united in Haryana and there is no infighting”.
Later, while addressing a press conference, Hooda spoke on issues such as pension, corruption, unemployment, MSP of paddy, closure of schools, transfer of guest teachers and ongoing strike of arhtiyas in the state. “The state government declares the living as dead and the dead as alive. By doing this, the government cuts the pension of thousands of elderly people. Pensions will be restored once the Congress forms government in Haryana. Also, pension will be given on the basis of self-declared income by abolishing the policy of family identity card.”
On teachers’ transfer policy, Hooda said that the government is moving forward on the policy of closing schools and opening liquor vends. “Posts of teachers are being abolished without any recruitment and guest teachers are being transferred several kilometers outside the district.
Paddy season is on in full swing but Arhtiyas are on strike. Despite repeated demands, the government has not yet started procurement. Due to this, paddy is being sold at Rs 1700- Rs 1800 per quintal. Today neither the paddy farmers nor the Bajra farmers are getting MSP in the mandis,” he said.
Referring to the CAG report, Hooda alleged that a big excise scam has been exposed in the state. “The CAG report states that Haryana has been duped of Rs 3000 crore. The government is shunning the demand for a CBI inquiry by the Congress under the supervision of a sitting judge of the High Court. Because if the investigation is done then a scam of about Rs 5000 crores will be exposed,” he said.
