Congress capable of winning on its own in Haryana: Bhupinder Hooda

New Delhi: The Congress is capable of winning the Haryana assembly polls on its own and no talks have been held with any party for an alliance yet, former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has said, indicating that his party may not have a tie-up with the AAP in the upcoming elections.

In an interview with PTI, Hooda also stressed that winnability would be the criteria for ticket distribution for the assembly polls.

Asked if there is a possibility of a tie-up with its I.N.D.I.A. bloc partner Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for the state elections, the senior Congress leader said, "We have an alliance at the national level (with the AAP) but as far as state level is concerned, no talks have been held with any party."

"The Congress is capable (to win) on its own. No talks have been held yet," the two-time chief minister said.

On Tuesday, when asked about alliances especially in states such as Haryana, Congress general secretary, in-charge organisation, K C Venugopal had said, "We have already discussed the poll preparations in Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir. Wherever alliances are needed, the local unit is deciding, they will go for that."

Hooda's remarks also came weeks after Congress general secretary, in-charge communications, Jairam Ramesh said there does not appear to be much scope for an alliance between the Congress and the AAP for the assembly polls in Haryana and Delhi but the I.N.D.I.A. bloc will fight elections together in Maharashtra and Jharkhand.

In an interview with PTI, Ramesh had said there is no one formula the INDIA bloc will follow for state elections. The grouping will fight together in states where Congress leaders and other alliance partners agree to such an understanding, he had said.

The Congress and the AAP had fought the Lok Sabha polls together in Delhi while they contested separately in Punjab. The Congress had given one seat to the AAP in Harayana in the general elections.

Jharkhand, Haryana and Maharashtra are slated to go for assembly polls later this year. Elections are due early next year in Delhi.

Hooda, 76, also said the Agnipath military recruitment scheme as well as the legal guarantee for minimum support price (MSP) for crops are big issues in Haryana.

"If a Congress government comes, we are opposing this (Agnipath) scheme because what will a person do after returning from service, following four years. They (central government) say Agniveers will get reservation but there is already reservation for ex-servicemen. What will they do after four years?" the senior Congress leader asked.

Every year, around 5,000 people used to be selected in the armed forces but this year only 250 were selected, he said.

Haryana's population share in the country is 2 per cent but every 10th soldier in the army is from the state, Hooda said.

"This government should withdraw the Agniveer scheme," Hooda said.

The issue of legal guarantee for MSP is a legitimate demand of farmers, he said.

"In the Raipur Congress plenary session, we had declared that the legal guarantee for MSP would be given," Hooda said.

The BJP had promised that farmers' income will be doubled by 2022. This did not happen but the input costs have gone up, he said. Hooda cited the spike in the cost of diesel, fertilisers and pesticides.

"In our time there was neither a tax on fertilizers nor on pesticides. There was 9 per cent tax in our time on diesel, they (BJP government) have increased it to 18 per cent. So, the input cost has gone up but farmers' income has gone down," the Congress leader said.

So, if sustainable income has to be ensured for farmers, legal guarantee for MSP should be given, Hooda said.

Talking about the guarantees, given by the Haryana Congress, Hooda said if the party comes to power, old-age pension will be increased to Rs 6,000, the old pension scheme will be brought back, gas cylinder will be available at Rs 500, 300 units of electricity will be free, and 2 lakh vacant posts will be filled up.

Hooda said if a Congress government comes to power it will also improve the law and order situation and get more investments to the state to give a boost to job creation.

"There is no investment coming in because money is being extorted from people. Law and order has collapsed in the state so no one is investing. We will bring in investment to give a fillip to job creation," Hooda said.

He claimed that winds of change are blowing in the state because the BJP-JJP government was a "non-performing government".

The BJP-JJP alliance was a "thug bandan" and the BJP government has not done any development, Hooda said. People have made up their mind to bring a Congress government to power, he added.