Haryana Assembly Polls 2024: Congress has become 'Hooda Congress', says Ravi Shankar Prasad

Escalating his attack, Prasad said that during the Congress' time, their model for Gurugram was "damad shri model".

New Delhi: Playing up the infighting within the Congress, the BJP on Wednesday sharpened its attack in Haryana and said that the Congress unit in the poll-bound state is now “Hooda Congress”. Even Rahul Gandhi has to take their permission to land in the state, party spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad alleged.

“Today, the All India Congress has become the Hooda Congress in Haryana. Even Rahul Gandhi cannot come here without permission… I was told that Congress wanted an alliance in the state with the Aam Aadmi Party but Hooda did not agree to it and so it did not materialise,” he told reporters.

Prasad said that the party had mistreated a senior leader such as Kumari Selja. “The way Kumari Selja was treated, we have read and seen. At least, her seniority should have been respected,” he said.

He also questioned why did the Congress not release its manifesto in Haryana. “What was the compulsion to release the manifesto in Delhi? They could have done it in Rohtak, Karnal, and eventually, they did it in Chandigarh,” Prasad said.

He said that under the Congress party, corruption was vexing the system. “I have heard about the ‘kharchi and parchi’ (favouritism and corruption) system which was prevalent during the Congress government’s time in Haryana. On the other hand, jobs were given purely on merit under the BJP rule,” Prasad said.

He said that the Congress’s poll promise of Rs 1,500 monthly to women in Himachal was not carried out two years after the polls and so, voters should not trust the Congress’s manifesto. “In Haryana, the Congress promised Rs 2,000 for women. Rahul Gandhi, I caution you to stop deceiving the women of Haryana. If you could not give it in Himachal Pradesh, how will you give it here," he asked.

The 90 member assembly in Haryana goes to polls on October 5; results will be declared on October 8.

Assembly Elections 2024 | In the first assembly polls since the Lok Sabha elections, Narendra Modi and the BJP face a rejuvenated and vindicated Opposition in the Haryana assembly polls. Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir is voting after almost a decade and it remains to be seen how the abrogation of Article 370 has impacted the political landscape of the Valley. Track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.