"Haryana No 1 in Crime, Drugs": Congress' Deepender Hooda Says State Ready For Change

The ten years of BJP governance in Haryana has left the state nowhere and the people now are eager for a change, Congress' Deepender Hooda told NDTV in an exclusive interview today. Mr Hooda, who is on a footmarch across the state, today reached the 49th constituency. He said his yatra has only made this clear .

"Ten years of misgovernance on part of the BJP has left Haryana nowhere. Haryana today ranks number one in terms of unemployment, in terms of inflation, number one in drug use, and number one in the whole nation as far as crime is concerned," Mr Hooda told NDTV. The crime rate, he said, is mentioned in the data of the Central government".

The senior Congress leader also alleged a trust deficit between the BJP's central and state leaders, claiming the state government was caught unprepared for the Election Commission announcement of poll dates that came two days ago.

Asked about the massive transfers of officials shortly after the Election Commission's announcement and the immediate imposition of the Model Code of Conduct, Mr Hooda said, "This just shows the desperation on part of the BJP".

"In fact, this also shows that the state government was not consulted by either (Centre and the Election Commission). They did not know the Election Commission was going to take this step. So somehow there is lack of confidence between the state government and the Central government and the Election Commission," he said, pointing out that  in the morning, the Chief Minister was saying there was absolutely no chance that elections are going to be held in time.

"They were preparing for a Cabinet meeting. In fact, some of the announcements they made have not been notified to the Election Commission," he added.

On Friday, the Haryana government had issued transfer orders for 21 IAS, 12 IPS and 68 state civil and police services officers with immediate effect.

While official sources said the transfer orders were issued before the election schedule was announced, Opposition parties targeted the state's BJP government, alleging that it has openly flouted the poll code.

The Election Commission has announced a single phase polling in Haryana on October 1. The votes will be counted on October 4.