Stopping march anti-democratic: Hooda

Former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has said preventing farmers from going to Delhi is anti-democratic, and the government should find a solution through a dialogue, instead of suppressing the voice of the farmer.

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“The BJP government has always failed to give DAP to farmers at the time of sowing, urea at the time of irrigation and MSP at the time of harvest. This is the reason why farmers have to protest again and again for their demands. Last time, the government had announced to form a committee for MSP to end the agitation, but even after such a long time, farmers are empty handed and they want to go to Delhi to remind the government of its promise,” said Hooda while interacting with mediapersons here today.

He pointed out that in a democracy, everyone has the right to go anywhere peacefully or to express their views, but the BJP government wants to snatch this right from the farmers. “The farmers have agreed to go to Delhi without tractor-trailers, following the government’s words. In such a situation, stopping them is completely undemocratic,” he added.

He said the BJP government talks about giving MSP on 24 crops, whereas the truth was that there were not 24 crops in total in Haryana, and farmers never get MSP on the crops that are there. “The example of paddy is in front of everyone. At the time of elections, the Chief Minister had announced to give the farmers a rate of Rs 3100 for paddy, but after the elections, the government forgot its promise and the farmers could not even get MSP,” he pointed out.

On being asked about Urban local bodies’ polls, Hooda said the Congress was fully prepared for the elections. Expressing concern over the increasing crime, he said crime and drug abuse had been increasing continuously in the state for the last 10 years, because the government had failed to fulfill its responsibility. “Today, every person in the state feels insecure,” he added.