Will ensure ₹3,000 old-age pension, 50% cut in power tariff if voted to power: Hooda
HISAR: Former chief minister (CM) Bhupinder Singh Hooda, while addressing during the fourth phase of Jan Kranti Yatra in Tohana, promised the gathering that if voted to power, the Congress government in the state will provide ₹3,000 as old-age pension and a 50% cut on electricity tariffs.
“The Congress government will slash power tariff by 50%. ‘Karenge ek kam, poori bijli aadhe daam’. It was only the Congress government under the Hooda leadership that had waived electricity bills of ₹1,600 crore. The BJP government had promised 24-hour electricity, but has failed to provide it even for 12 hours,” Hooda said.
He said that the present government is unable to redress farmers’ issues and implement recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission and moreover, is constantly increasing rates of petrol and diesel.
“The BJP government is pushing farmers to acute distress and misleading them with false promises,” he said.
He added, “The farmers were earlier getting ₹5,000 per quintal for paddy and ₹7,500 per quintal for cotton and there seems no justification for fixing the MSPs at ₹1,750 per quintal for paddy and ₹5,150 per quintal for cotton.”
He said the revised MSP is based only on part of the input costs, not comprehensive costs as suggested by the Swaminathan Commission.
Hooda also commented on the drug menace in the state and said that parents have an additional responsibility to keep vigil on their children.
POOR LAW AND ORDER
The former CM said that the state is far behind in law and order as well with increasing rapes, murders and loot. “In its last four years, the BJP government has totally failed to control crime,” he said.
‘INLD WORKING FOR BJP’
Further taking on the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), Hooda said being hand-in-glove with the BJP and indulging in shadow boxing, the INLD’s agitation against the BJP is a sham and it would not make any impact, even if they continued to agitate for 50 years. “They have 2,000 people in their meetings, they announce that 20,000 people are courting arrests. A police officer gets on their stage and announces their arrest and release. They continue to support the BJP at the Centre and then run a fake campaign against the BJP government,” Hooda said.
Other Congress senior leaders, Phool Chand Mullana, prof Sampat Singh and other Congress leaders also addressed during the rally.