Gurnam Singh Charuni, head of Bhartiva Kisan Union (BKU), mentioned that while farmers in Haryana provided support to the Congress, the party did not take full advantage of the opportunity. Charuni, the founder of the Sanyukt Sangharsh Party, blamed former Haryana chief minister and senior Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda for the party’s disappointing results in the recent elections, according to a statement to news agency IANS.
Charuni stated that the favorable atmosphere created for Congress in Haryana was thanks to the farmers, but the party failed to take full advantage of it by mimicking the BJP’s tactics and not supporting farmers. According to the news agency, Charuni stated that he caused Congress’ loss by refusing to compromise and being solely blamed by the party. He cautioned the party against selecting him as the new leader of opposition during the meeting of the Haryana legislative assembly.
He stressed that he wants to convey to the Congress high command that they should not assign the role of Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Haryana Assembly to Bhupendra Singh Hooda. Looking back on Hooda’s performance in the past ten years, Charuni argued that he did not fulfill his duties as a competent leader of the opposition.
“The farmers’ union acted as the opposition, not Bhupinder Singh Hooda,” he added. The BJP stated that Charuni’s remarks indicate that the farmers’ movement was ‘orchestrated’ by the Congress, but they failed to take advantage of it. A party spokesperson called Congress party members ‘andolanjeevis’ and stated that the farmers’ movement in Haryana and Punjab against government policies was ‘sponsored’.
The state governments of Congress led by Rahul Gandhi are the most hostile towards farmers. In Karnataka, their MLA Raju Kage has been accused of being anti-farmer and a farmer’s suicide was also mentioned, according to BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla. These problems are used to create division within the society. A significant part of the protestor ecosystem, despite receiving fewer than 2,000 votes, alleged that the alleged Farmer Protest was established to benefit the Congress in Haryana, although the party was unable to secure a victory, according to Poonawalla. He disclosed that he had cautioned the Congress party prior to the Assembly elections that Hooda would lead the party to defeat and alleged that despite pledging a ticket to farmers in the Lok Sabha elections, he did not fulfill his promise in the recent assembly elections.
Charuni claimed that if Hooda had made a deal with Abhay Chautala and provided him with a ticket, Congress could have secured nine seats in Haryana. The leader of BKU also claimed that Hooda has alienated important members of the Congress party and other political partners. He marginalized Ramesh Dalal, who put his life in danger by handling Rajiv Gandhi’s murder case, along with Harsh Chhikara, Balraj Kundu, Kumari Selja, Kiran Choudhary, and Randeep Singh Surjewala. He marginalized the Aam Aadmi Party, Abhay Chautala, and myself, despite our assistance.
Rahul Gandhi emphasized that farmer leaders should have priority in the elections. He further emphasized that it would be advantageous for the party to involve farmer leaders in the elections, as mentioned by Priyanka Gandhi. Wrapping up his pointed critique, Charuni remarked, “By excluding everyone else, Hooda essentially excluded himself.” God has also sidelined him now.