Congress President Sonia Gandhi told a crowd of around 15000 here on Saturday not to trust "those who thrive on extortion and caste divisions." Ms. Gandhi kicked off the campaign for the Haryana Assembly polls scheduled on October 15, by addressing back-to-back rallies at Meham in Rohtak district and Sirsa.
Meham, more than 100 km from Delhi, is infamous in contemporary political history for the violence during the Assembly polls and bypoll in 1990. Thirteen people including an independent candidate were killed for which former CM Om Prakash Chautala was accused and later acquitted. Mr. Chautala's principal opponent then-- Anand Singh Dangi-- is seeking to be elected for a third time as the Congress MLA of Meham, which is a segment of the Rohtak parliamentary constituency. The Congress holds all nine assembly segments and led in seven of them during Lok Sabha polls earlier this year.
Addressing an election rally at the town's grain market with Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda and others, Ms. Gandhi made veiled jibes at both the Chautalas and Prime ministerM Narendra Modi. "A decade back you voted out the regime in which might was right... Only if you vote for us again can we establish a model of development as an example for others," Ms. Gandhi said.
She said, "They condemned our welfare schemes, but the moment they were elected, they changed the schemes’ names and claimed them to be their own... Vote with your head, not your heart. Beware of those who incite you and make false promises." Gandhi accused her opponents of misleading the electorate during the parliamentary polls by making them believe “that nothing had been done in India since Independence.”
“Have they done anything to stop price rise or create jobs for our youth. What happened to their promise to bring black money back from abroad within100 days,” she added.
Mr. Hooda told the crowd of pink-turbaned supporters that having seen the rule of, "the person with the magic wand" they should re-elect the Congress to continue agricultural subsidies and economic growth. Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee President Ashok Tanwar said that he hoped that all Congress members, even those who did not get tickets to contest, would back the party’s candidates in all 90 seats.
Haryana is going to the polls on October 15. The Congress, which is attempting a hat trick in the state, faces a strong challenge from the Indian National Lok Dal and a resurgent BJP. Mr. Modi also addressed a rally in Karnal today.
