Set your house in order before offering us support: Bhupinder Hooda to Dushyant Chautala

Former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Thursday said that Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) leader Dushyant Chautala should vouch for his flock before making an offer to support a consensus candidate fielded by the Congress for Rajya Sabha byelection.

Bypoll for filling one Upper House seat will be held in the state as the incumbent MP, Deepender Singh Hooda got elected to the Lok Sabha and vacated the Rajya Sabha seat.

Hooda, who was speaking to journalists at a press meet at Chandigarh Press Club, was responding to a question about a recent offer made by the JJP leader. “We have 28 MLAs and support of three Independents. So, we would need support of 14 MLAs. Dushyant should first present his 10 MLAs and then make an offer to us. There is a question mark on the stance of many JJP MLAs,” said Hooda, indicating that many JJP MLAs would not vote on Dushyant’s call.

At least five JJP MLAs had expressed their support for the ruling BJP or the opposition Congress during the recent Lok Sabha polls.

On a question regarding Haryana government’s recent move to allow stilt plus four floor construction in urban residential areas after a 16-month ban, the former chief minister said that while it was alright to allow construction of stilt plus four floors in new residential sectors which have wider roads and commensurate infrastructure. However, residents’ welfare associations should be consulted if stilt plus four floors are to be allowed in old sectors, he said. “The old sectors do not have commensurate infrastructure and allowing stilt plus four floors would create parking problems, sanitation issues etc,” the leader of opposition said.

The former CM said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government has failed on all fronts and proved to be a non-performer. “I am not against setting up web portals. But we will pull apart all anti-people web portals,” he said.

Hoods said that the BJP government is making U-turns on its own decisions after its defeat in the Lok Sabha elections.

“The decisions made by the BJP government are cooked somewhere else. Faisle kahin aur se aate hain. Even transfers (of officers) are decided somewhere else,” Hooda said.

In response to a question on the priorities of the Congress if it gets voted to power in the state, the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader said creating employment opportunities and improving law-and-order situation in the state would be their top priority. “See, what is happening on the law-and-order front in Haryana. People across the state are feeling unsafe. It seems that either there is no government or the criminals have protection from the government,” said Hooda.

The leader of Opposition said more than two lakh posts were lying vacant in government departments.

Hooda also asked as to why the promises made at the time of forming a coalition government with JJP remained unfulfilled. “Why did farmers not get minimum support price (MSP) guarantee and bonus on MSP?” he asked.

Hooda said the BJP is now making announcements to allot 30 square yard plots after snatching the rights of the poor, the scheduled castes and backward classes, who actually should have got 100 square yard plots announced by the Congress government. “The government has neither identified land for the plots nor has demarcation been done. The public will no longer fall into the trap of these fake announcements,” he said.