Focus on urban pockets, check BJP’s OBC push: Hooda to Congress MLAs

Bhartesh Singh Thakur

Chandigarh, June 10

Holding one-to-one meetings with all 27 MLAs to evaluate the parliamentary poll results, Congress Legislative Party (CLP) leader and former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda today announced plans to hold workers’ meetings in all districts. The schedule will be released on Tuesday.

Later, the programme could be extended to Assembly constituencies as well.

Upbeat after the victory in five Lok Sabha seats, it has been decided to extend thanks to the people for voting for the party. Hooda and state unit president Udai Bhan will preside over the workers’ meetings.

“Today, we did an evaluation and took feedback. We are going to hold workers’ meetings in all the districts,” said Hooda.

He clarified that the alliance with AAP was only at the national level. For the state poll, there would be no pact.

While addressing the MLAs, Hooda said that the vote percentage of the INDIA bloc constituents (Congress and AAP) stood at 47.61 per cent and the BJP received 46.11 per cent of the votes. He added that the BJP had suffered a fall of about 12 per cent in vote share from the 2019 Lok Sabha poll. The Congress jumped from 28.5 per cent to 43.67 per cent.

He told the MLAs that the INDIA bloc was ahead in 46 Assembly constituencies and lagging in 44. He exhorted the MLAs to cover up the losses.

It was also discussed that the party was lagging in urban pockets and MLAs were told to address this issue. They also discussed how to counter the BJP’s push for OBC votes.

The BJP had recently replaced Manohar Lal Khattar, a Punjabi, with Nayab Singh Saini, who comes from the OBC community, as CM. At the Centre too, the BJP has appointed Rao Inderjit Singh and Krishan Pal Gurjar as ministers, who come from Ahir and Gujjar communities.

The CLP discussed how the BJP government revived the Congress’ policy of giving 100 sq yard plots under the ‘Mahatma Gandhi Grameen Basti Yojna’ after more than nine years. It also criticised the state government for distributing ‘HAPPY’ cards for free bus travel as the number of Haryana Roadways buses has reduced from what it used to be during the Congress regime.

Four MP-elects — Deepender Hooda, Varun Chaudhary, Satpal Brahamchari and Jai Prakash — also addressed the Congress MLAs.

MLAs Kiran Choudhry, Shalley and Renu Bala, who belong to the anti-Hooda camp, didn’t attend the CLP meeting. However, Shamsher Singh Gogi and Pardeep Chaudhary were present.