Kurukshetra: Former Haryana chief minister and opposition leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Saturday alleged that the BJP had resorted to vote theft to form the govt in Haryana.Addressing a Congress workers’ conference, attended by the party’s Haryana incharge Sanjay Dutt and state party president Rao Narender among others, Hooda said the BJP govt had failed farmers, youth, women, sportspersons and the elderly.Thanking voters for electing Congress MLA Ashok Arora from Thanesar, Hooda said people from all 36 communities and sections of society had supported the party in the 2024 elections.“Everyone was saying the BJP was on its way out and Congress was coming to power, but the results were the opposite. I had raised doubts then. Later, Rahul Gandhi and the Congress team investigated the matter and vote theft was exposed,” he said.Hooda also questioned the Election Commission over changes in Haryana’s voter turnout figures. He claimed the turnout was initially announced at 61.19% on the night of Oct 5, increased to 65.65% the next day and reached 67.9% on Oct 7, a day before counting. “How could votes increase so significantly after the EVMs had been sealed?” he asked.During a visit to the grain market after the conference, Hooda interacted with farmers, commission agents and labourers. He alleged that farmers had been waiting for procurement for nearly two weeks and were being forced to sell paddy at up to Rs 400 per quintal below MSP.He also alleged that procurement was being delayed on grounds such as moisture content, while inadequate lifting arrangements were creating a shortage of space in mandis and delaying payments.Besides, Hooda raised concerns about unemployment, crime, drug abuse, corruption and debt.He claimed that Haryana’s debt had risen from around Rs 70,000 crore in 2014 to Rs 5.5 lakh crore under the BJP govt and that the state had slipped to 14th among 18 major states on economic indicators.On law and order, Hooda claimed that around 60 criminal gangs were active in the state, which had been ranked the country’s most unsafe in the Central govt’s Social Progress Index.
