Bhiwani, November 16
Thousands of admirers of late Surinder Singh today paid their tributes
to the departed leader on his birth anniversary by donating blood at a
camp organised here by his widow and Congress MLA from Tosham, Ms
Kiran Chaudhary.
The camp turned out to be one of the biggest camps organised in
Haryana in the recent past. An estimated 5000 persons donated blood.
The late minister’s supporters were seen queuing up for registration
hours before the camp began. The well organised camp went off smoothly
with donors displaying great discipline.
Union Human Resources Development Minister Arjun Singh and Chief
Minister Bhupinder Hooda registered their presence by addressing the
supporters of Surinder Singh.
Mr Hooda described him as a “true mass leader” and at the same
time a “social worker”. He said his dead ministerial colleague,
who perished in a copter crash some months ago, shared his dream of
making Haryana the most developed state in the country. Mr Hooda
assured that he would do his utmost to realise this dream.
The Chief Minister said he had been chosen by Ms Sonia Gandhi to
head the Congress government in the state with the specific purpose of
making it an ideal state and he was trying to come up to her
expectations.
He said during the past 40 years no government had paid much
attention to improving law and order and boosting power generation in
Haryana. He said he considered these two aspects as key to
development. “No society can prosper in lawlessness and no progress
is possible unless you have ample power”, he said, adding that the
law and order issue had already been addressed and his government was
working towards making Haryana self reliant in power in the next few
years.
The Chief Minister said Haryana needed 9000 MW of power whereas it
was generating only 2000 MW. An equal quantity was being purchased
from various sources.
Mr Arjun Singh said late Surinder Singh saw many ups and downs in
his life but these did not deter him ever. He revealed that Rajiv
Gandhi once asked him to convey to Surinder Singh that he wanted him
to be the Chief Minister of Haryana. However, Surinder Singh politely
declined the offer.
The minister said Surinder Singh had always stood for the rights of
the youth and the peasantry. He said he was pleased to note that Ms
Kiran Chaudhary was carrying his task forward with determination.
The blood collected at the camp would meet the needs of the
hospitals in Bhiwani and nearby districts.
