New Delhi: With three days to go for the Haryana polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, addressing a series of rallies in the state on Saturday, played his development card and attacked dynasty politics yet again. On the other hand, hours before being transferred to Tihar Jail, INLD chief Om Prakash Chautala hit out at the BJP and accused it of framing him by pressuring the CBI.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi, speaking at another rally at Tosham, asked people to be “wary” of the BJP and the INLD and accused the Modi government of trying to weaken laws on land acquisition and rural employment brought in by the Congress-led previous UPA government. Meanwhile, the campaign by various political parties in Haryana has reached its peak, with each of them resorting to advertisements to woo voters. The BJP, which had been playing second fiddle, has now stepped on the gas to form its own government in the state. So far, surveys have gone in the BJP’s favour.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi who addressed three rallies at Jind, Sirsa and Gurgaon, not only played his development card but also came down heavily on dynasty politics. He claimed that the state was plundered for nearly 25 years by five leading political families and felt that the electorate would not forgive them.
"The people of Haryana will not forgive the looters. During the last 25 years, five families have ruled Haryana and they systematically plundered the state. The time has come for change," he said. The turnout in each of Mr Modi’s rallies was massive, which prompted him to say: "If they see the turnout of the rallies that I have addressed, they will realise which way the wave is." He spoke of the need to develop Haryana, which he claimed was reeling under an acute shortage of electricity, water, plagued by unemployment and crime against women.
"Youth from Haryana are migrating to other places. Women in Haryana feel insecure from local goondas. This has to change. I promise you development which didn’t take place in 50 years," Mr Modi said. Addressing a rally at Tosham, Mrs Gandhi targeted the Modi government for trying to "weaken laws on land acquisition and rural employment brought in by the UPA".
Taking a dig at Mr Chautala’s claim to run the government from Tihar, Mrs Gandhi said: "Jail se sarkar chalane walon ko bhi kursi chahiye (Those promising to rule from jail only want power)." Mrs Gandhi asked the voters "not to fall in the BJP’s trap which promises a lot but delivers little". She hit out at the Prime Minister for the government’s decision to decontrol the prices of crucial drugs.
"The Prime Minister recently visited the United States and only time will tell what was gained and what was lost. But one thing he did that I think is very wrong, this will benefit American drug companies to a big extent. As a result, the cost of life-saving drugs will go up and the common man will have to suffer," the Congress president said.
Meanwhile, all the political outfits have gone into an aggressive campaign mode, with the INLD roping in rapper Honey Singh to release a video to attract young voters. The Congress’ campaign talks about "sharafat aur vikas (decency and progress)" while the BJP propaganda blitzkrieg hits out at the Congress over alleged land scams and unemployment, among other issues.
