Congress candidate Bhupinder Singh Hooda during a campaign rally ahead of the Haryana Assembly elections, at Saidpur village in Sonipat, Haryana.
PTI
Ambala: Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Monday said his party will open the Shambhu border for farmers if it is voted to power in the Haryana assembly polls.
The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha have been spearheading the 'Delhi Chalo' march by farmers to press the government to accept their demands, including a legal guarantee for a minimum support price for crops.
They have been staying put at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points between Punjab and Haryana since February 13 when their march was stopped by security forces.
Addressing an election rally on Monday, Hooda accused the BJP of having "no faith" in democracy.
"This dictatorial government first imposed three anti-farmer laws and then used batons and fired bullets on farmers, when they opposed these laws. Roads were dug up... and the Haryana government has stopped the farmers at Shambhu border. Due to this, traders are also suffering huge losses," he said.
"When a Congress government is formed (in Haryana), the Shambhu border will be opened and farmers will be given legal guarantee of MSP," the former Haryana chief minister said.
He said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has been fighting at the Center for the farmers' demand to implement the Swaminathan Commission report.
Haryana Congress president Chaudhary Udaibhan and Ambala MP Varun Mullana also addressed the public meeting and appealed to the people to vote for the party.
Udaibhan said the BJP has to answer to the public why its government in Haryana stopped the farmers at the border for so many months.
"Who is responsible for the martyrdom of 750 farmers? Farmers were stopped at the Shambhu border and attacked with drones and rubber bullets. Who will be held accountable for the death of Shubhkaran Singh?" he posed.
Shubhkaran Singh, a young farmer, was killed during clashes at the Khanauri border point on the Punjab-Haryana border on February 21.
At the rally, Hooda said Ambala did not have a sewage system, a stadium or walkable roads before the formation of a Congress government.
"The Congress government established all facilities in Ambala. Now, our goal is to establish an industrial model township here to take Ambala forward from an industrial point of view," he said.
The Congress leader also said that with the establishment of an Industrial Model Township, new employment opportunities would be developed in Ambala.
"Along with this, the seven guarantees given by the Congress will be fulfilled. The BJP asking where will the budget come from. First of all, the BJP should tell where will they bring the budget from, because it has copied the Congress' manifesto," Hooda asked.
Reiterating the Congress' poll promises, he said that once the party forms a government in the state, it will provide Rs 6,000 as an old age pension, Rs 2,000 honorarium to women, a gas cylinder for Rs 500, two lakh permanent recruitment on merit and the creamy layer for OBC's would be increased to Rs 10 lakh.
Congress leader Udaibhan referred to the wrestlers' protest last year against then Wrestling Federation of India chief and former BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh and said they have not got justice so far.
"Why were the wrestler daughters, who brought glory to the country, dragged on the road," he asked.
"The time has come to take revenge for the injustices done to farmers, soldiers, wrestlers and our daughters. Today the time has come to get answers from the BJP as to why the state has become number one in unemployment and crime," Udaibhan said.
He alleged that gangs have been demanding ransom from jails and abroad, but the government has no control over them. "There is a need to get answers from the BJP as to why more than 30 papers were leaked in the state," he asked.