5 min readRohtakMay 16, 2024 02:42 PM IST
First published on: May 16, 2024 at 01:27 PM IST
One Congress leader who has emerged amid all the political upheaval in Haryana and is seen as the future chief minister of the state, where the BJP has been is in power for a decade, is Deepender Singh Hooda. In an exclusive interview with The Indian Express, the three-time Rohtak MP said he was not a claimant for any post and that his aim was the BJP’s defeat in the Lok Sabha polls and the upcoming Assembly elections in Haryana.
Excerpts:
Q: Do you also agree this contest for the Rohtak Lok Sabha seat is a tough one between you and BJP sitting MP Arvind Sharma?
Deepender Singh Hooda: You have characterised the seat wrongly. It is going to be a big victory for the Congress in Rohtak. The Congress-led alliance is also going to win all the 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana.
Q: What are the key issues you are contesting the election on?
Deepender Singh Hooda: People are fed up with the current BJP government and they are looking for a change in the state under the leadership of (Bhupinder Singh) Hooda-ji. They remember the 10 years of good governance by Hooda-ji and the Congress. The BJP is losing steam nationally as well.
Q: Your entire campaign is based on local issues while the BJP is making it national. How do you see this?
Deepender Singh Hooda: Our Assembly elections will take place just three months after the Lok Sabha elections, putting Haryana in a different position. Whatever happens in the Lok Sabha will have a direct bearing on the Assembly elections. It will not take even three months as the three independent MLAs have withdrawn support to the BJP government and allied with the Congress. Once the Lok Sabha poll counting is done, this BJP government in Haryana will fall. So in the next couple of months, you will see the Haryana Assembly elections. So we can not separate the state and Lok Sabha elections.
Watch video interview:
Q: Your entire poll campaign is centred on this Dilli Se Chandigarh Jayenge slogan. Your supporters are also raising slogans like Humara Mukhyamantri Kaisa Ho, Deepender Hooda Jaisa Ho.
Deepender Singh Hooda: I am a disciplined worker of the Congress and we all are putting in all the hard work with one aim—defeat the BJP and bring the Congress to power in Haryana.
Q: How are you banking on the resentment among farmers against the BJP?
Deepender Singh Hooda: All the sections including the farmers have been cruelly dealt with by the BJP government. This has a bearing across Haryana. The farmers and other sections have decided to throw the BJP out of power in Haryana.
Q: The BJP says in its defence that protesting farmers were from Punjab and that farmers in Haryana are happy with the government. Is that the case?
Deepender Singh Hooda: You will get the answer once the results are out.
Deepender Hooda’s poll campaign is in full swing as the state goes to polls on May 25. (Express Photo/ Parveen K Dogra)
Q: What result are you expecting in Haryana?
Deepender Singh Hooda: Ten out of the 10 seats for the Congress-led alliance.
Q: A clear divide has been witnessed between the Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Kumari Shelja camps over ticket distribution. Will your father campaign for Shelja?
Deepender Singh Hooda: We are supporting all the 10 candidates in Haryana. Since the Congress high command has shown full faith in Hooda-ji’s leadership and ticket distribution as well as the state leadership, we are grateful to everyone. Now it is up to us to deliver and we will deliver. We are going to support everyone including Shelja-ji.
Q: What are key development works done during your three terms as the Rohtak MP?
Deepender Singh Hooda: People will remember our work. We transformed Rohtak and took it to the national map. Major projects undertaken during that time were 1080 km of national highways, Bahadurgarh was connected with the metro rail, Jhajjar was connected with the railway network, IIMT Rohtak, Footwear Park, Reliance, Amity, two thermal power plants, various investments from companies like Panasonic, Asian Paints, Maruti, JK Cement and NTPC. Several educational institutes made Rohtak an educational hub. Eighteen national institutes like IIM, IIT-Delhi, AIIMS, IHM and Skill Development University came to Rohtak.
Rohtak lies on the western boundary of Delhi, while in the east you have Noida and Gurugram in the south. On the Western boundary, you have the Rohtak Lok Sabha constituency. Before our government, this area was quite neglected. While Gurugram and Noida were marching ahead, Rohtak was left out. We made an effort to bring it to the path of development. Our focus will be to ensure Rohtak is on par with Noida and Gurugram in development. I think the proximity to Delhi should be fully utilised.
Q: This Lok Sabha election is being seen as a semifinal ahead of the Assembly elections. Do you see yourself becoming the chief minister?
Deepender Singh Hooda: I am not a claimant for any post. I am working hard to ensure the BJP, which destroyed Haryana, is voted out. I have no other aim.
Deepender Singh Hooda is seen as future CM of Haryana and the 3-time Rohtak MP believes the BJP is being voted out of power in the state. (Express Photo/ Parveen K Dogra) 
Deepender Hooda’s poll campaign is in full swing as the state goes to polls on May 25. (Express Photo/ Parveen K Dogra)
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