Former Chief Minister and Leader of the Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda said the election results in Bihar were not in accordance with the public support the Grand Alliance had anticipated. The alliance did not expect such an outcome. Therefore, the Congress Party will carefully analyse the reasons behind the Bihar defeat and conduct a thorough review.
Responding to journalists’ questions in Jhajjar, Hooda said that as a responsible Opposition, it is the Congress Party’s duty to raise issues concerning public welfare. For this reason, the Congress Legislature Party has submitted a memorandum to the Governor demanding action on farmers’ losses due to heavy rains, irregularities in paddy procurement, rising crime in the state, and corruption in ration card distribution.
Hooda said that the recent heavy rainfall across the state has caused extensive damage to crops. Large areas of paddy, cotton, and other Kharif crops have been submerged, leading to severe financial distress for farmers. Many farmers have lost their entire crop, yet the government has not conducted a proper survey nor announced any meaningful compensation. This year’s crops have been destroyed by excessive rainfall, and waterlogging persists in several areas, which makes it impossible to sow the next crop. He demanded that the government conduct a special girdawari and compensate farmers at the rate of ₹50,000 to ₹60,000 per acre.
He further said that although the government claims to provide MSP for 24 crops, the situation is far removed from reality. There are many crops, such as paddy, millet, green gram and cotton, for which farmers are not receiving MSP at all. In Haryana, farmers are being forced to sell paddy and millet at prices that are ₹500 to ₹600 per quintal below the MSP. In such circumstances, keeping in view the flood losses and distress sales, the government should provide a bonus of ₹1,000 on all crops.
Hooda added that there have been widespread complaints of irregularities and scams in government procurement of paddy. Farmers did not get fair prices in many mandis, and reports of fraudulent purchasing and selling have raised serious concerns about transparency. At the same time, there is an acute shortage of fertilisers and rampant black marketing. The Congress Legislature Party has demanded that the entire matter be investigated by a sitting judge of the Haryana High Court so that the full truth becomes public.
He said that crime is steadily rising in the state. Incidents of murder, kidnapping, robbery, rape, theft, and drug trafficking have become routine. Ordinary citizens are feeling unsafe. Even the central government has stated that more than 80 criminal gangs are active in Haryana and are involved in organised crime.
Hooda said that not only the public but even the police have lost confidence in the government and the law-and-order situation. He demanded an impartial CBI probe into the suicides of the ADGP and ASI, under the supervision of a sitting High Court judge, so that the facts are established and the guilty are punished.
The Congress has also informed the Governor that the BJP government has deceived the poor. Before the 2024 elections, the government declared millions of people as BPL overnight, issued ration cards to them, and secured their votes by offering free food grains. But after the elections, millions of ration cards are being cancelled.
In response to questions on alleged vote manipulation, Hooda said that after the Haryana results, the Congress raised several questions with the Election Commission. For instance, on the night of the 5th, the Commission announced that the voter turnout in Haryana was 61.19%. The next day, it was revised to 65.65%, and on 7th October, a day before counting, it was increased further to 67.9%. Hooda said it is incomprehensible how the vote percentage rose so sharply overnight.
Commenting on the Delhi bombings, Hooda said, “This is a horrific incident. There has been negligence on the part of security agencies. The perpetrators of this terrorist attack must be punished with the strictest penalties.”
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