‘Decision on CM candidate at apt time’

Former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda says that the claims of the BJP government on the MSP are completely false. He opines that the state government has done nothing for people in four years and hence deserves negative marks. He claims that the Congress will sweep the forthcoming parliamentary and Assembly elections in Haryana. While refusing to comment on the family feud going on in the INLD, he says that by the 2019 elections, the party will be completely demolished. Excerpts from an interview with Sushil Manav...

The BJP came to power in October 2014 by winning a majority in the Assembly elections. The government led by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has completed four years in office. How do you rate its performance?

The BJP came to power in the state by showing dreams to people. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had given the “Achche din ayenge” slogan during the parliamentary elections and the BJP also won the Assembly elections in Haryana on the back of Modi's charisma. However, during the four-year rule of this government, all hopes of the people have been dashed. The government did not fulfil even one promise made before the elections. The BJP government has proved to be an utter failure in all respects. The law and order situation in the state is perpetually deteriorating. It seems as if there is no government in Haryana today. Criminals are having a field day, while law abiding citizens hesitate from moving in the street. Every day, we read the news about murders and rapes. This government has transformed a vibrant state into a socially volatile state. The loss of life and property during the Rampal case, in violence during the Jat quota agitation and in arson by Dera Sacha Sauda head Ram Rahim Singh's followers is unprecedented in the history of the state.  

The Chief Minister claims that he has been able to provide clean governance to the people of Haryana. What do you say?

This is the most ludicrous claim that the BJP government is making. Leave aside transparency, the situation has worsened, as testified by several scams that have been witnessed during the past four years. There were scams in special girdawari for assessing crop losses of farmers, in the purchase of Raxil for wheat seeds, in the purchase of galvanised sheets, in land acquisition in Bawal, in the purchase of paddy and bajra and pesticides, in the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, and the mining scam for which the Supreme Court had indicted even the chief minister's office. Besides, there had been scams in changing the Gurugram Metro route, in hiring buses for the Haryana Roadways, and in the Haryana Services Selection Board (HSSC). The recent scam is about hiring of private buses for Haryana Roadways. I met Haryana Governor Satyadev Narayan Arya and sought his intervention in the issue. The state government wants to issue permits to 720 bus operators at the rate of Rs 34 to Rs 45 per kilometre, while the Pepsu Road Transport Corporation (PRTC) has hired buses for Rs 22 per kilometre. In 2016, the BJP government had invited tenders but rejected the offers of transporters who were ready to provide buses for Rs 16.76 per kilometre. In the past four years, it has not been able to add even one new bus in place of discarded buses. Now, around 1,200 new buses are required.       

The government says that it has taken several steps to improve the lot of farmers. The MSP for crops has been raised to provide 50 per cent profit on input costs to farmers. The Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna (PMFBY) has been launched to safeguard farmers from losses due to natural calamities and lesser yield. How do you respond to this?

The claims of the government on the MSP are completely false. In its election manifesto, the BJP had promised to calculate farmers' profits for fixing the MSP by the C2 formula, but now the government is calculating it by the A2 plus family labour method. The C2 formula means the comprehensive cost and includes the imputed cost of family labour, imputed rent of owned land and imputed interest on owned capital. On the other hand, the A2 costs are what a farmer actually pays from his pocket to buy various inputs such as seeds, fertilisers, pesticides, hired labour and machinery or even leased land. The BJP had promised to implement the report of the national commission on farmers headed by MS Swaminathan that recommended a 50 per cent margin over C2, which was also the demand of farmers. The previous UPA government had given a better remunerative MSP to farmers, but now commodities such as fertilisers, pesticides and tractor parts, which were earlier not taxed, have become costlier after the BJP government brought them under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime. The PMFBY is one of the biggest frauds with the farmers. The scheme has been made to suit the interests of private insurance companies instead of farmers.

What marks will you give to Manohar Lal Khattar’s government?

The same question was asked to me when the BJP government completed four years in power. I had then said that this government had done nothing for people in four years and its answer sheet is blank. On the other hand, there have been many instances when this government has been found wanting and hence deserves negative marks. During the Congress regime from 2005 to 2014, when I was Chief Minister, we opened the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) at Panchkula and also set up the Kaushalya Dam on the Ghaggar. In Yamunanagar district, our government set up Deen Bandhu Chhotu Ram Thermal Plant, but the BJP government has not sanctioned any project for the two districts. In Karnal, we set up Kalpana Chawla Medical College, but the BJP government has not been able to lay even a brick at the project site. We set up the National Institute of Designs at Kurukshetra, Bhagat Phool Singh Women’s University (first women’s medical college of the state), IIIT, National Institute of Food Technology, Rajiv Gandhi Education City, IMT and Deenbandhu CR University of Science and Technology in Sonepat district. In Rohtak, our government set up the Indian Institute of Management, Visual and Performing Arts University, Industrial Model Township, Footwear Designs and Development Institute and the Hotel Management Institute. In Jhajjar, we opened AIIMS, Global Centre for Nuclear Energy Partnership and the National Cancer Institute. We opened Chaudhary Ranbir Singh University in Jind, Chaudhary Bansi Lal University in Bhiwani, provided money to Chaudhary Devi Lal University in Sirsa, sanctioned a nuclear power project for Fatehabad, Lala Lajpat Rai Veterinary University for Hisar, Indian Defence University and a Rapid Metro project for Gurugram, a central university for Mahendragarh, ESI Medical College and YMCA University for Faridabad, Hasan Khan Mewat Medical College for Mewat, Indira Gandhi University, Sainik School and Rao Birender Singh Engineering College for Rewari and Metro links to Gurugram, Bahadurgarh, Faridabad and Ballabhgarh. Our government set up five power plants, three railway lines and four Industrial Model Townships (IMTs) to the people of Haryana. What did the present BJP government give? Can the BJP name even one project? Hence, I cannot even give zero mark to the Khattar government, as it deserves negative marks.  

The parliamentary elections are around six months away. And in around five months after that, the state Assembly elections are due. What do you think are the electoral prospects of the Congress?

The Congress will sweep the parliamentary and Assembly elections in Haryana. Our party lost power in 2014 only because of Narendra Modi’s strong charisma and wave in the state. Now, the Prime Minister’s charisma no longer exists and rather people have understood that the BJP came to power on false promises.

But your party is divided into various factions. There are at least six leaders in the Congress who organise separate rallies. How do you think a faction-ridden party will win the elections?

As far as the Congress is concerned, only Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are our leaders. All others are mere office-bearers they have appointed and keep changing. Wherever Rahul Gandhi goes, you will find all leaders standing together. There is no factionalism in the Congress.

Will the Congress go to the polls by projecting any leader as the chief ministerial candidate or the issue will be decided after the elections?

The Congress will take an appropriate decision on the issue at an appropriate time. Our aim is to bring the Congress back to power and all party leaders are working with this aim in mind. When the appropriate time comes, the party will decide the chief ministerial candidate.

You have been the Chief Minister of the state for two full terms. So, your supporters expect the party to project you as leader. What do you think? Will the party project you as the leader?

Supporters do have their aspirations. But as I have said earlier, our party will take an appropriate decision on the issue at an appropriate time.

Land acquisition has always been a contentious issue in Haryana. During the BJP rule hardly any piece of land has been acquired. Rather, the government has de-notified some land acquired earlier. What do you think about this?

For what purpose land is acquired in a state? Obviously, land is acquired for development works such as to establish a medical college or a university, construct a road or a thermal plant, a canal or a grain market. When this government has done nothing in the name of development in four years, why will it acquire land? When the Congress was in power, I brought in a land acquisition policy that was admired by everyone and adopted across the country.

Ever since the BJP has come to power, a few cases have been registered against you. Some of them pertain only to land. What do you have to say?

This is nothing but vendetta politics of the BJP government. When the Congress was in power, no allegation of corruption in acquisition of land was levelled. But the BJP government has been busy filing false cases for political reasons.

During the BJP rule, Haryana has witnessed the worst kind of caste violence in February 2016. Your own hometown Rohtak was the worst affected by the violence. The BJP also pointed a finger at you after an audio of your former associate went viral on social media. How do you explain this?

In the aftermath of the February 2016 violence, the BJP government constituted the Prakash Singh Committee to probe the incidents. BJP leaders, including Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, told people that the truth would come out once the committee submits its report. But the government made only a part of the report public which indicted Deputy Commissioners, SPs and even the Chief Minister’s Office. It was proved that the violence occurred due to the failure of the state government to control the situation. The failure of the government to handle a serious situation like the February 2016 violence can be gauged from the fact that from 1966, when Haryana was born, till 2014, when the BJP came to power, 70 people would have never been killed in police firing, as happened during the four-year rule of the BJP. This is because the BJP always tries to search for votes in violence and killings. The BJP government is in the habit of pointing an accusing finger at its opponents, whenever it fails to perform.

Employee unions have been agitating ever since the BJP formed the government. Even now, Haryana Roadways unions are on a strike. You have met the Governor over the issue. In your opinion, why are the employees unhappy with the government?

When the Congress was in power, we gave the best facilities to the employees. Hence, they never went on strike. But for the first time the Punjab and Haryana High Court had to intervene with regard to Haryana Roadways employees’ strike.

The INLD, another Opposition party of Haryana, is witnessing a family feud these days. Will this affect the outcome of the upcoming elections in Haryana?

I will not comment on the family feud, because it is an internal matter of the INLD. But I had said two years ago that the real face of the INLD would be revealed before the next elections. Now, everyone knows that the party was just shedding crocodile tears for farmers and the real fight was merely for power. By the 2019 elections, the INLD will be totally demolished.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener Arvind Kejriwal started touring Haryana this month. He has expressed intentions to contest the parliamentary and Assembly elections in Haryana. Incidentally, he hails from Haryana. Will this affect the outcome of the elections?

AAP is not coming to Haryana for the first time. The party had contested the 2014 parliamentary elections in Haryana but lost all 10 seats and its candidates lost their security deposits. AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal is not going to get anything in Haryana. The people of Haryana will call  his bluff. He has a different stand on the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal in Punjab and exactly the opposite in Haryana and Delhi.