Political turbulence in Haryana; Hooda leads big attack: Haryana politics has witnessed turmoil again. The Leader of the Opposition, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, on Tuesday accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party of conniving with the Election Commission to steal the mandate in the recent assembly elections. He said Rahul Gandhi’s disclosures have made it crystal clear that the transparency of the whole electoral process is under question.
He said serious irregularities were found in the voter lists of several polling booths, where 223 votes were recorded in the name of a woman and photographs of 1,22,000 voters were fake IDs. Even the house of a BJP leader, measuring 300 yards, recorded 501 votes, though the leader’s family consists of only seven members. Rahul Gandhi showed evidence to the media that some of his supporters have their names in both states, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.
Vote Percentage Controversy—”Why did EVMs increase the figures?”
Hooda said after the voting on October 5, 2024, the Election Commission reported a voter turnout of 61.19%, which increased to 65.65% on the next day and then to 65.9% on the third day. “Do votes increase automatically?” he asked.
He said when the Congress was leading in 73 seats after the counting of postal ballots, the number had reduced to 37 after counting of EVMs. Hooda contended that for safeguarding the credibility of democracy in times to come, it would be appropriate to hold elections through ballot papers only.
Growing crime, shrinking security—”Even the police are unsafe”
He said law and order has collapsed in Haryana. More than 60 active criminal gangs in the state are involved in crimes like murder, extortion, and kidnapping. “Now the police themselves are not safe,” Hooda said. Referring to the murder of a policeman and the suicide of an ADGP-level officer, he said the government did not allow a CBI investigation into these incidents.
Speaking on the safety of women, he said that only 5% of the calls received at the women’s helpline have been acted upon, making the situation in the state worrisome.
“The BJP has betrayed farmers and women”
Hooda accused the government of incorporating so many conditions into the promise of ₹2,100 that most eligible women were deprived of it.
He also said that many promises were made before the election by issuing BPL cards, and as soon as they came to power, those cards were canceled. He said scams are taking place in paddy procurement and the investigation report of the last year has not been made public.
Hooda said, “Farmers are neither getting fertilizer nor compensation nor MSP. It is a shame to make food providers stand in queues to get fertilizer stamped.”
He added that Congress would now start a movement against vote theft across the country including Haryana.
