In Kurukshetra, Haryana, former Chief Minister and Leader of Opposition in the Haryana Vidhan Sabha, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, has accused the BJP of deceiving the poor and illegitimately cutting lakhs of ration cards after securing votes. Hooda's statements highlight concerns about the welfare of the state's underprivileged citizens and the integrity of the electoral process.
Hooda stated that the BJP created millions of fake ration cards to garner votes in the elections. According to Hooda, government figures indicate a significant increase in the number of ration cards from 1,109,865 in 2020-21 to 5,196,380 in 2024, correspondingly, the number of beneficiaries increased from 52,40,111 to 2,13,00,000. He said this meant that the BJP declared 80 percent of Haryana's population as living below the poverty line.
However, Hooda alleges that after the elections, approximately 4.1 million ration cards were canceled across the country, with Haryana accounting for the highest number of cancellations at 1,343,474. This has resulted in the cessation of ration supply for over 7 million people. Hooda contends that the BJP is deliberately excluding people from Haryana from recruitments. He cited instances where a disproportionately low number of candidates selected for positions in Haryana Power Utilities and as Assistant Professors were from Haryana itself.
Hooda has been a vocal critic of the BJP government's policies, particularly regarding the Parivar Pehchan Patra (family identity card). He argues that the BJP-JJP alliance has weaponized this scheme to unfairly cut pensions for the elderly and ration cards for the poor. He claims that the government is indiscriminately halting pensions and rations based on random and baseless income data in family identity cards, without proper investigation. According to Hooda, approximately 500,000 elderly individuals have had their pensions stopped, and around 1 million poor families have had their ration cards canceled due to these discrepancies.
Hooda also criticized the state government for failing to ensure Haryana receives its rightful share of water from the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal, despite a Supreme Court decision favoring Haryana. He accused the BJP of prioritizing political considerations over public welfare and neglecting critical issues such as unemployment, law and order, and economic management. He said that Haryana's debt has increased from ₹60,000 crore since the state's formation until 2014 to around ₹5.25 lakh crore. Hooda questioned where this money was spent, alleging that it has been wasted in scams.
