Former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Monday said anyone making an objectionable comment against Congress MP Kumari Selja does not have any place in the party.

Hooda’s remark came after a video purportedly of a Congress worker passing a controversial comment against Selja went viral on social media.

The former chief minister said the video appears to be manipulated.

Hooda and Selja are considered to be rivals in Haryana politics.

Hooda, who was speaking to reporters in Rohtak, was asked that a video has gone viral on social media in which objectionable language has been used against Congress general secretary and Sirsa MP Selja.

Responding to the question, Hooda said, “Selja is our sister. She is a respected leader of the party. No Congress worker can say such thing. It (the video) appears to be manipulated. It is BJP’s job to make people fight on the basis of caste, religion…

“It is very easy these days. Everyone has a camera and you can manipulate. No Congress person can say such thing,” said Hooda, adding that the party’s slogan is ‘Jaat par na paat par, mohar lagegi haath par’.

Meanwhile, on a question that the BJP has withdrawn its candidate in Sirsa to “support” Haryana Lokhit Party (HLP) candidate Gopal Kanda from Sirsa, Hooda said the people of the state already knew this.

“The earlier indirect alliance of the INLD (Indian National Lok Dal) and the HLP with the BJP has now become public,” Hooda told reporters.

“In Haryana, the direct contest is between the Congress and the BJP. All the parties like the INLD, JJP (Jannayak Janta Party) and HLP have been fielded only to cut the votes of the Congress.

“The BJP has also given this responsibility to many Independents. The public needs to be cautious of such candidates,” he added.

Meanwhile, senior BJP leader and former MLA from Beri, Om Prakash Kadian, and his son Vikram Kadian joined the Congress in Rohtak on Monday.

Vikram Kadian has contested elections from Beri twice on a BJP ticket. BJP Mahila Morcha state general secretary Gayatri Devi also joined the Congress along with many sarpanches and block committee chairpersons, a party statement said.

(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – PTI)

The Congress on Monday released its manifesto for the Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, promising a slew of welfare measures for farmers, women and the youth.

The highlight of the manifesto — Haath Badlega Halaat — is insurance for all crops against natural calamities and a minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 72 per kilogram for apple.

The manifesto was released by AICC chief spokesperson Pawan Khera and PCC president Tariq Hameed Karra at the party office here.

“We will provide an additional financial support of Rs 4,000 for landless, tenant, and land-owning farming households per year. We will also arrange 99-year leases to landless farmers cultivating state land,” Khera said.

He said a Rs 2,500-crore fund will be set up for all district-level irrigation projects to ensure 100 per cent irrigation for farmers in Jammu and Kashmir.

For the youth of Jammu and Kashmir, the party promised an unemployment allowance of up to Rs 3,500 per month for one year to qualified youths.

The party promised to fill one lakh vacant government posts by issuing a job calendar within 30 days.

(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – PTI)

As several states going to elections this year, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday cautioned against increasing trend of “freebies” and highlighted how “lofty promises” impacted development works in Congress-ruled Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh.

Speaking to Network18 Group Editor-in-Chief Rahul Joshi at News18 Chaupal, Sitharaman said political parties need to understand the state’s budget before making any promise which can burden the exchequer.

The Finance Minister pointed out that Himachal Pradesh is not able to pay salaries to government employees while development works were hit in Karnataka due to freebies announced by Congress before elections.

“Every state and the Centre will have to look at work which is capable of being undertaken by every government. Any party aspiring to get to the Centre or state government. We have to understand what the budget is capable of taking up. Will a state be in a position to undertake developmental activities and freebies and get it funded through the assembly or parliament, then announce schemes? Then when states struggles to implement them because they don’t have the resource and ways to increase revenue then comes the problem,” she said.

“Classic example is of Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh where they gave a lot of promises without doing homework. What is the condition of these states? They were going to pay OPS. They are not able to pay current salaries. In Karnataka, there were number of promises and they said they were not able to take up development work” she added.

False Narratives: FM On Govt’s ‘U-turns’

When asked if she had any pressure due to coalition government, Sitharaman said, “Some people set some narrative. Some false narratives are also coming up… U-turn word is also used… We prepare budget after taking opinions of people across the country. Based on suggestions, we implement some. In Indexation and capital gains, we listened to the people. We brought it after consultations… I am accommodating suggestions which has come from people for their benefit. This is not a U-turn.”

FM Calls Rahul Gandhi ‘Careless’

Reacting to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s attacks on India’s economy, the Finance Minister said he is being careless despite become the Leader of the Opposition.

“It is very difficult to react to Rahul Gandhi… Despite becoming leader of opposition, he is still talking he can be careless and just throw anything at ruling party and get away with it. Unless he is going to acquire some seriousness about the kind of issue he is talking in India and abroad, people of India will also become hopeless about him. I’m sure he does not want it,” he said.

On Gandhi’s “controlled election in India” remark, Sitharaman said that the Congress leader cries foul whenever the BJP registers win in elections but does not utter a word when his party wins.

“He did not say that when he won elections in some states. When results are in their favour, everything is good. When BJP wins elections, polls are not fair. Till elections, the EC was accused and when they managed to touch 100, then EC is not wrong. I think outcome of 2024 polls was that the government of the day has to get going with the lot of work and the opposition was given a bit more stature with decent numbers to sit in opposition to do the job of the opposition… He go around the world speaking against the country, and even Mrs Gandhi wouldn’t want to do it outside the country. He goes and accuse the country,” he said.

When asked if there is any interactional conspiracy to bring down Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, Sitharaman said, “All over the world there is attempt to change the regimes. This year, there are 50 nations going to elections. The narrative in each of the country is this everybody who in serious politics are saying are we having our democratic process working within this country or are we having our democratic processes being influenced by something else.”

“Or say when you say something elese to somebody else it’s not a direct participation, there are people within their respective countries who will play this role happily. But that is where I think democratic countries will now to look at how to handle such situation in a more matured fashion,” she added.