Sonipat (Haryana), May 8 (IANS): Veteran Congress leader and two-time Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Hooda on Wednesday said the BJP has accepted its defeat in the state's Sonipat Lok Sabha seat with his party announcing Satpal Brahmachari as its candidate.
"It seems the BJP is now just completing the formalities of contesting elections because all communities have united and decided to enable Brahmachari’s win,” Hooda said while addressing election meetings in Gohana, Kharkhoda, and Murthal in the constituency.
Brahmachari, belonging to the Brahmin community, returned to state politics after spending two decades in politics in Uttarakhand.
Hooda, in his address, claimed that the BJP does not have a single public-friendly promise in its manifesto, and the public has, anyway, lost confidence in its election announcements and that is why BJP leaders always talk about Congress' manifesto instead of their own manifesto.
"BJP leaders are continuously spreading lies about the Congress manifesto, while the Congress has promised 30 lakh jobs in the Central government, the guarantee of the MSP (minimum support price) to farmers, the guarantee of one-year apprenticeship for the educated youth…The Congress manifesto is a roadmap to benefit every section," Hooda, who is also the Leader of the Opposition, said.
Brahmachari said the Congress victory in the Lok Sabha polls and later in the Assembly elections is certain.
"The Congress has announced to provide two lakh jobs in Haryana. Besides, promises like Rs 6,000 pension to the elderly, OPS (old pension scheme) benefit to employees, a cooking gas cylinder for Rs 500 to every housewife and 300 units of free electricity are being made by the Congress, while the BJP neither has any plans nor any report card of its past performance," he said.
Both the Congress and the BJP are heading to a straight contest on this seat. The BJP has pitted Rai Assembly legislator Mohan Lal Badoli against Brahmachari. Both belong to the same community.
The Sonipat Lok Sabha seat comprises nine Assembly segments. Of these, Jind, Safidon, and Julana fall under the Jind district, while Gohana, Sonipat, Rai, Baroda, Gannaur and Kharkhoda come under the Sonipat district. While Brahmachari hails from Jind, Badoli belongs to Sonipat.
The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) has nominated retired Superintendent of Police Anoop Singh Dahiya, while rival outfit Jannayak Janta Party (JJP), once an ally of the ruling BJP in Haryana, has fielded Bhupinder Malik.
The Congress is contesting nine of the 10 parliamentary seats in Haryana. As per the seat-sharing arrangement, the party has given Kurukshetra to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which has fielded Sushil Gupta.
Haryana will go to the polls in a single phase on May 25.