Chandigarh: BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad Wednesday said the people of Haryana have to make a choice between the BJP's development-oriented 10 years versus the scams and corruption that prevailed during the previous Congress dispensation. Taking a dig at former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, he alleged the Congress' Haryana unit has become "Hooda Congress". "Even Rahul Gandhi has to come here with permission.
I am told that he (Gandhi) had some desire for an alliance (with AAP), but Hooda refused and it did not happen. I was surprised to see the Congress' 'Hoodakaran' here," the former Union minister said. Prasad claimed that industrial unrest prevailed in Gurugram when Hooda was the chief minister. But now, "be it IT or automobile manufacturing, Haryana has moved ahead and is generating a large number of employment opportunities, the BJP leader said.
"Gurugram has two models -- IT expansion and technological advancement -- to take Haryana to newer heights in startups," he said. During the Congress' rule, their model was "land deal and damad (son-in-law) Shri model", Prasad said while alleging the Congress has an old connection with land deals, as he referred to Karnataka's Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) land allotment case.
The former Union minister said two narratives are clear in the Haryana polls and these are the BJP government's 10 years versus the Hooda government's 10 years. The people of Haryana have to decide which 10 years they will follow, he said. "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.
"I have been the Union IT and communications minister. Gurugram has become a big IT hub, it has the biggest backend offices," he added. Prasad also took a dig at the Congress over alleged infighting in the party's state unit, saying the media has extensively written about "the treatment meted out to Kumari Selja" by her party's state unit. "She is a senior MP. I am also an MP and both of us have remained Union Ministers... If nothing else, her seniority should have been respected," he said.
Referring to the Congress rally in Naraingarh on Monday where Rahul Gandhi ensured that all leaders, including Kumari Selja and Bhupinder Hooda, raised their hands in a show of unity, Prasad said such scenes were seen in the Congress camp during Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh polls too but it lost there. The BJP leader also slammed Gandhi over his "jalebi" remark a day earlier.
Addressing a poll rally in Gohana, Gandhi showed a box of famous jalebi makers and emphasized that his sweets should be sold across the country and exported which would generate more employment opportunities. "If his jalebi is sold in other states and is also exported, then 20,00'-50,000 more people can work in his factory one day," he said. "But PM Modi has trapped him in a 'chakravyuh' like Abhimanyu was trapped in Mahabharat," Gandhi had said, adding that the jalebi maker was trapped in demonetization and then "wrong" GST.
Reacting to the senior Congress leader's remark, Prasad said, "I also like Gohana's jalebi. Now, Rahul Gandhi is talking about setting up a factory in the US. But one has to understand how jalebis are made and how they are sold. It would have been better if those who wrote the chit for him had framed it properly." "Rahul does not do his homework properly, you must have heard my comment many times in this regard on earlier occasions too. But those who give chit to him, it would have been better if they had written the script properly," he said.
Prasad said former Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, a late BJP veteran, had once told them a story about former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. "He had said when Rajiv Gandhi was visiting Rajasthan as PM he went to the fields to talk to farmers. Over there he asked price of red and green chillies from farmers and then said if red chillies fetch good cost in the market then why don't they grow red chillies only? What answer can be given to this?" he posed.
Taking on Congress over "non-fulfilment" of promises in some of the states ruled by it, the BJP leader said, "A new word has been introduced in the country's politics through Rahul Gandhi -- 'khat khat khat khat khat khat'. They promised Rs 1,500 to women in Himachal Pradesh each month and said youths would get jobs 'khat khat'."Now, people there are questioning the Congress about their poll promises. They are unable to pay salaries of employees even -- this is the situation of financial management of their 'khat khat' thing," Prasad said.
"In Haryana too 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 there how will you give it here? Please stop playing fraud on the women of Haryana," he said. Haryana goes to polls on October 5 and the results will be declared on October 8.
