Taking a cue from Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, former Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda Sunday promised to cut electricty tariff by half, if the Congress was voted to power in next state Assembly polls. Hooda made thise statement while addressing the Jan Kranti Rally at Tohana in Fatehabad Sunday. “Karenge ek khas kam, bijali puri-aadhe dham (We will do a wonderful job by slashing the power tariff by half),” Hooda said amid cheers from the crowd. He also promised to raise the old age pension to Rs 3,000 per month and a loan waiver for farmers, Dalits and poor. Hooda has chosen Tohana to launch fourth phase of his Jankranti Yatra which is part of Sirsa Lok Sabha constituency. Congress has no MLA in this Lok Sabha constituency as eight of nine Vidhan Sabha seats were won by INLD during the 2014 Assembly polls leaving one, Tohana for BJP. Currently, state BJP chief Subhash Barala is representing this seat. Hooda will spend three days in this area as part of his Rath Yatra. “We don’t make false promises, we had waived pending electricity bills worth Rs 1,600 crore which was a promise made by someone else. We will waive off application fees for all Haryana government jobs once the Congress is elected back,” Hooda said, amid slogans, “Haryana ki majboori hai, Hooda sahab jaruri hai” (Hooda is leader of masses here as there is no choice). As Congress leaders addressed Hooda as “bhavi mukhyamantri” (next CM), the former CM chose the platform to launch an attack on the BJP over the party’s promise to provide 24 hours electricity. “Do you get electricity for 24 hours?” he questioned the crowd, who replied with a resounding no. “We don’t get electricity for 24 hours in a week,” Hooda said. Taking on the BJP government over MSP hike, he said, “The government claims to have implemented the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission and is patting itself on the back after it raised the MSP (minimum support price) of paddy to Rs 1,750 per quintal and cotton to Rs 5,150 per quintal, claiming that farmers are being given 50% profits. But were you not getting better prices during Congress government?” The senior Congress leader took on the INLD “for being hand-in-glove with the BJP government and indulging in shadow boxing” on the issue of SYL canal. “Ask from them whom they voted during no-confidence motion in Parliament?” Hooda said. “Before the elections, the BJP had promised to give jobs to youth or give them an unemployment allowance of Rs 9,000 per month, they have neither provided the jobs nor the unemployment allowance,” Hooda said.
