Former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Hooda slammed the state government on Monday for failing to procure key kharif crops like paddy, millet, and cotton as they hit the markets. This delay, he said, has forced Haryana farmers to sell their produce at rock-bottom prices well below the minimum support price (MSP).
In Rohtak, Hooda told reporters that paddy is fetching Rs 300-400 less per quintal than the MSP, millet is down by about Rs 600 per quintal, and cotton is selling for around Rs 2,000 below the support level. “Farmers are already reeling from devastating floods, and now the government is hitting them with another blow,” Hooda said, highlighting the distress among rural communities in Haryana.
Shifting to politics, Hooda commented on the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), saying every party has the right to hold events and play the political game. But he accused both the INLD and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of having nothing to show for their time in power. “They lack real achievements to brag about,” he added.
Hooda claimed the INLD acts as a front for the BJP, helping split anti-BJP votes alongside allies like the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP). He urged the INLD to explain Haryana’s troubles under its past rule, including the firing on farmers, the Meham massacre, land grabs from debt-hit farmers, and even arrests. “People still remember the hooliganism and jail-run governance during the INLD-BJP days,” he said.
Hooda praised his Congress government’s 2005 turnaround, which ended the fear and delivered big relief for farmers. It waived Rs 1,600 crore in electricity bills, cut crop loan interest to zero, forgave Rs 2,300 crore in debts, and promised no land seizures ever. “The INLD should lay these facts out for the public,” he challenged.
Turning his fire on the BJP, Hooda said the party hasn’t kept a single election promise. The vow of Rs 3,100 per quintal for paddy? Empty words. The Rs 2,100 monthly aid for women? Loaded with conditions that leave most out. And on farmer support, he accused the government of dragging its feet on crop procurement, flood compensation, and fertilizer supplies.
Flood damage assessments in Haryana are moving at a snail’s pace, with only 3 lakh acres surveyed out of 31 lakh affected, Hooda noted. He called on the BJP to launch urgent special surveys and hand out cash relief right away, blasting online portals as tricks to block aid. “They use satellites to catch stubble burning—why not for spotting flooded fields and helping farmers?”
Hooda recalled the 1995 Haryana floods, when his Congress administration quickly paid direct compensation for crop losses, farm buildings, tubewells, homes, and shops. “We acted fast to support our farmers back then,” he said, pushing for the same urgency today amid ongoing farmer protests and crop price woes.
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