Ready to make any sacrifice to protect Haryana’s interests: Bhupinder Singh Hooda

Former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said ready to make any sacrifice to protect the interests of Haryana, including leading a ‘padayatra’ or any other necessary steps

Former Haryana chief minister and Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Sunday termed the resolution passed by the Punjab government in the Vidhan Sabha reiterating its claim on the joint capital Chandigarh a political stunt.

Former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said all political parties will have to show solidarity in the interest of the state and all parties will have to clarify their opinion over the Chandigarh issue. (HT File Photo)

Addressing a press conference here, Hooda said that Chandigarh is a part of Haryana and will remain so.

“We are ready to make any sacrifice to protect the rights of the state, including leading a ‘padayatra’ or any other necessary steps. All political parties will have to show solidarity in the interest of the state and all parties will have to clarify their opinion on this issue. There is a dispute with Punjab not only over the capital but also over Hindi-speaking areas and water from the SYL,” he added.

He further said he had called a meeting of the Congress Legislature Party in Delhi on Monday to discuss the further course of action.

“In the meeting, all strategies, including a meeting with the President or the Prime Minister will be discussed. Even before this, the leaders of all the parties had met the President to demand the implementation of the Supreme Court’s decision on SYL but we have not been able to meet the Prime Minister on this issue till now. The state government should ask the Prime Minister for time,” he said.

The former chief minister also expressed concern over the ever-increasing inflation.

Hooda announced that if the Congress government is formed in the future, electricity will be provided free of cost to the poor and at affordable rates to the middle class.

He alleged that the BJP and the BJP-JJP government had taken anti-people decisions in their entire tenure. “This government has neither spared the elderly nor the children. This government has decided to cut the pension of the elderly and abolish Rule 134A, which provided good education to poor children. This is an anti-people government. Corruption has also increased manifolds,” he said.