Hooda promises martyr status for those killed during farm protest

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Hisar, December 24

Former CM and Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda today said that farmers and farm workers, who had died during the farmers’ agitation, would be given martyr status if the Congress came to power.

Addressing a Kisan Majdoor rally in Sirsa, he said one member of each of the deceased farmers’ families would be given a government job and a national farmers movement memorial would be built in memory of 750 farmers and workers.

“The BJP-JJP government is responsible for the martyrdom of 750 farmers and farm workers during the farmers’ movement. It lathicharged the farmers, showered them with cold water in winter and placed nails on roads, but they do not know that no one can suppress the voice of the farmer,” he said.

He asked what had happened to the agreement made between the farmers and the government, in which it was said that MSP would be guaranteed.

Hooda said when the Congress government was formed, it would give a pension of Rs 6,000 per month to the elderly. “We will give LPG cylinders to housewives for Rs 500. Every family will be given 300 units of electricity free of cost and we will re-implement the 100-sq yard free plot scheme. The services of sanitation workers, watchmen and others will be regularised. We will abolish Skill Employment Corporation, and get rid of the hassles of the portal,” he said.

In Sirsa, he said they would complete the excavation of Otu Lake. “When our government comes, BT cotton farmers will be given BT-3 and BT-4,” he said.

Meanwhile, state Congress president Udai Bhan said the government had cheated the farmers. When they agitated, they were defamed and humiliated.

Rajya Sabha MP Deepender Hooda claimed that the JJP had betrayed voters. The INLD had 20 seats in 2014, but in the 2019 elections, it came down from 20 to 1, because instead of playing the role of the opposition, the INLD targeted the Congress. “The INLD supported the BJP whenever and wherever the opportunity arose,” he said.