Hisar: Former Haryana chief minister and leader of opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Tuesday alleged that the Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) and the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) were acting in tandem with the BJP, engaging in a “scripted tussle” to mislead the public.Interacting with the mediapersons after visiting Hansi grain market, Hooda said the two regional parties were “merely fixed fight with the govt to create confusion”. He was accompanied by MLAs Chandra Prakash and Bajrang Garg. His remarks came in response to a query on police stopping the convoy of a former deputy chief minister.Hooda claimed that all sections, including farmers, labourers and commission agents, were under distress. Drawing a comparison with the Congress regime, he said more than 8.7 million metric tonnes (MMT) of wheat was procured in 2013, while the current BJP govt had set a target of only 7.2 MMT despite similar acreage and yield levels. “Procurement has steadily declined since the BJP came to power,” he said.Highlighting issues in the mandis, Hooda said he was touring markets across the state and found payments to farmers delayed by 5-8 days. Of the total dues of Rs 2,714 crore, only Rs 741 crore had been cleared so far, he added.He said only 1.6 MMT of wheat had been lifted till now, attributing the slow pace to inadequate storage capacity. “The farmers are being forced to store produce on roads, highways and in fields,” he said.The Congress leader also criticised the procurement process, alleging that multiple requirements — portal registration, gate passes, biometrics, tractor details and verification — was burdening the growers. “Arrivals are strong, but procurement remains negligible due to these hurdles,” he said.On women’s reservation, Hooda said the bill, passed in the Lok Sabha in Sept 2023, was yet to be implemented. He accused the BJP of complicating the process by linking it with delimitation.
