Accusing the Chautalas of speaking out against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) but supporting it, Congress Rajya Sabha MP Deepender Hooda, at a rally in Sirsa, on Sunday said that Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) leader and Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala took six hours to extend support to the saffron party after the 2019 Haryana Assembly elections, and Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) general secretary Abhay Chautala would take only six minutes.
Mr. Hooda was addressing a gathering at the party’s ‘Haath Se Haath Jodo’ campaign at Nathusari Chowpata in the Ellenabad Assembly constituency represented by Mr. Abhay Chautala.
Appealing to people to vote wisely, Mr. Hooda, in a scathing attack on Mr. Abhay Chautala, said that although the INLD leader had spoken out against the BJP, he had supported the party whenever there was an opportunity to oppose it. “Be it the election for the President [of India], Vice-President [of India] or [to] the Rajya Sabha, Abhay Chautala voted for the BJP candidate. His choice for a candidate at the Adampur Assembly by-poll was to ensure that the BJP did not lose the election. Dushyant took six hours to extend support to the BJP after the Assembly elections, but Abhay will take only six minutes,” Mr. Hooda said.
He also accused Mr. Dushyant Chautala of targeting the BJP during the election campaign, but later supporting it. Mr. Hooda said the JJP had claimed it had an agreement with the BJP to hike the monthly old age pension to ₹5,100, but nobody got it. “The agreement between the BJP and the JJP was not for the monthly pension, but to have a free hand in committing corruption. Not just the opposition is saying so, the JJP’s own Narnaund MLA Dada Gautam has said this,” Mr. Hooda said.
Referring to the BJP-JJP coalition and the INLD’s support to it on several occasions, Mr. Hooda, in an appeal to vote for the Congress, said that when all the dishonest can unite, then the honest too can unite.
Later, Mr. Hooda visited several flood-hit villages in the district and inquired after the condition of the people. “The situation is bad in entire Haryana due to floods. The government neither strengthened the embankments, nor cleaned the drains, or took adequate steps to combat the floods in time. Due to this, now people are facing huge difficulties and losses,” Mr. Hooda said.
