Former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda sees in BJP campaign a camouflage to hide its failures in Haryana. He tells The Indian Express why future belongs to national parties and justifies 'deserving' dynasts in politics. Excerpts With just over a week left for polling in Haryana, how is Congress campaign going? Response of people is very encouraging and beyond our expectations. It seems people of Haryana have made up their mind to elect a Congress government. The BJP government has proved to be a total failure. All sections of the society are fed up with this non-performing government. It is only expert in event management. It has done no work on the ground, no development took place in the state. Yet, people are consistently and increasingly voting for BJP, be it mayoral polls, Jind bypoll or the recent Lok Sabha elections. As far as mayoral polls is concerned, no other party contested on its symbol. It was natural that they will consider themselves victorious. As far as Jind bypoll is concerned, Randeep (Surjewala) was a sitting MLA (from Kaithal) and people of the constituency thought that it may not be in their interest to elect him. In Lok Sabha polls, the issues were completely different. BJP swept not only Haryana, but whole of north India due to a wave in favour of (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi. But, BJP is building the same wave again. Won't it cost Congress dear? BJP is trying to camouflage its non-performance by raising issues of Kashmir and surgical strikes here. But they will not be able to do so. Issues in parliamentary and Assembly polls are always different. In 2009 Lok Sabha elections, Congress won nine seats of the 10 seats in state. In Assembly polls a few months later, the INLD - that had no representation in Parliament - won 32 seats. So, the issues in both the polls are different. Haryana used to be No.1 in per capita investment, No. 1 in per capita income. Now it is No. 1 in unemployment and No. 1 in crime. In which direction are we leading? Have they brought in any national level institute? Have they laid a single inch of railway, or metro? As a two-time former chief minister, how do you rate BJP government's five year tenure in Haryana? People are asking BJP candidates what have they done in Haryana. They made 154 promises in their election manifesto in 2014. Not one has been fulfilled. They promised farmers to procure crops as per recommendations of Swaminathan Commission.but farmers are not even getting the MSP (Minimum Support Price). They (government) put in a condition that only 4-5 quintals per acre shall be procured. What will a farmer do with the rest of his produce? He will go in for a distress sale. Farmer in Haryana is on the verge of being ruined, and is in heavy debt. During our tenure, there was no tax on fertilizers, pesticides and spare parts and diesel was the cheapest in north India. A spray that used to cost Rs 200 per acre (during our tenure), now costs Rs 1000. What will a farmer do? I went to a Mandi in Pipli. Potatoes are grown in that area. One farmer was selling his potatoes at 9 paise per kilogram. Farmers have been totally ignored by this government. Same is the case with Scheduled Castes and poor people. We sanctioned 3.82 lakh plots in this category. In five years, this government has not allotted even a single plot. For government employees, BJP promised pay scales at par with Punjab. Forget about that, even 7th pay commission was not fully implemented. HRA (House Rent Allowance) amounting to Rs 6000 crore is still pending with the government. Traders say that they are not making any profit. Instead, they are spending from their pockets. Why? Demonetisation, then GST, then one tax after another. This government hasn't built a single hospital in villages. No institute of national fame has come here, no university has been set up. Rather, they have shut down some 100-odd primary and secondary schools. We started scholarship scheme for Scheduled Castes. They carried out a ghotala (irregularities) in that. They stopped the Dal-roti scheme, because of another ghotala. This is the most corrupt government. Natural resources have been destroyed.kilometer scheme, overloading scam, power-meter purchase scam.nothing has been inquired into. We raised it in Assembly several times, but they did not do anything. This government is very transparent in corruption. But BJP says, they have given 72,000 government jobs and that too with utmost transparency. How do you counter that? What transparency are they talking about? Haryana is the only state whose Subordinate Services Commission's chief was suspended and people were caught red-handed with bribe money. They do a propaganda of 18,000 Class-D selections. There was no interview conducted. And whom did they select? Engineers, MBAs, MCom degree holders were selected as peons, beldars, office helpers (paani pilane vaala). In Bhiwani, a girl with a post-graduation degree was recruited to serve water to people. This is a cruel joke played by the government with unemployed youth. These posts were meant for those who could not pursue higher studies. They were not recruited and those who have been selected, feel humiliated. Why does not government issue a White Paper on the recruitment? I have learnt that more than 50 per cent (recruits) have not joined. Even government's own survey says that Haryana has the highest rate of 28.7 per cent unemployment. It used to be 2.8 per cent during our time. They have increased the unemployment 10 times. That is why I call them an event management party. They organised an event - Happening Haryana - in Gurgaon. For the first time, air fares and lodging for the NRIs who came, including some who are my friends, was paid by the government. This government made a propaganda that Rs 6 lakh crore investment will come to Haryana. Not even four per cent of that materialized. From where will you get employment? Union minister Amit Shah called you and INLD president Om Prakash Chautala "termites for democracy", accusing your and his families of doing dynasty politics. How do you respond? It is their view. When you are born in some family, you should not be thrust upon the people. But if you are capable of delivering, then you shouldn't be denied too. If the son of a scientist becomes scientist, or son of a businessman becomes businessman, why should it bother anybody? But if you thrust them on to anybody, then it is not correct. It should be left to the people. If people accept, if he is capable of working, then what is the issue? BJP flays Congress fort not having a party president. That is the internal affair of our party. BJP also has issues - one person is party president, another is working president. That is their internal functioning. Similarly, it is our internal functioning. But factionalism within Congress has now spilled onto the roads. Why? It happens in every party. BJP is also facing it. The INLD too. So many people left INLD and BJP. So, what is so special about Congress? It is natural in democracy. If I am ambitious and aspire for something and don't get it, then I am bound to get frustrated. Do you see any future for regional parties like INLD and JJP? Time has come in the country when only national parties will survive and I think it is in the interest of the country too. Whether it is the ruling party or opposition, both should be national parties. In the current scenario, if anybody can take on the BJP, it is the Indian National Congress. BJP accuses Congress of neither having a clear CM face, nor party president, nor PM face. How do you see it? In any party, a sitting CM is the party's face. Did BJP declare (Manohar Lal) Khattar as its CM-face in 2014 state polls? No. I was the CM face for Congress, because I was the then sitting CM. Our first target is to secure majority for the Congress. Selection of CM will be done by the MLAs and the party high command. That is the case with every national party. It is only in the regional parties that they fight for such posts.
