Bhupinder Singh Hooda interview: ‘Humiliation that women wrestlers faced is going to cost BJP in Haryana’

The BJP swept Haryana in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, winning all 10 seats in the state. In the past five years, the Congress has attempted to revive its base on the ground even as it has battled internal differences among its top leadership.

In an interview, Haryana Leader of the Opposition and former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda tellsThe Indian Express that issues of unemployment, unprecedented price rise, farm protests and the “unfair treatment” of women wrestlers will determine the choice of the electorate as Haryana votes on May 25. Excerpts:

There are multiple factors. The people of Haryana have seen the BJP government in the state for the last 10 years. It has been a non-performing government throughout its tenure in all aspects, whether its per capita income, law and order situation, employment, or price rise.

Thanks to the BJP’s policies, Haryana has become number one in unemployment. Young children are forced to leave their homes in search of jobs. The youth is convinced that they have no future under the BJP. That is why every second young person wants to go abroad even if it is illegally through donkey routes.

The Congress wants to make Haryana a state where no youth is forced to leave his motherland. We will bring jobs and ensure vacant government posts are filled. People will not vote for the BJP because it has failed to fulfil promises that it made in 2014 and then in 2019. Did they double farmers’ income? Did they ensure employment to youth? Did they give a guarantee on MSP to farmers? A strong wind of change is flowing across Haryana.

The people of Haryana are viewing these (Lok Sabha) polls like the panchayat polls. They are fed up with this non-performing BJP government.

People have not forgotten the