Hisar: Putting to rest all speculations, senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley on Sunday threw weight behind Haryana Janhit Congress-BJP alliance and projected Hisar MP Kuldeep Bishnoi as their chief ministerial candidate.
The BJP leader, while addressing `Vijay` rally of Haryana Janhit Congress, went on to say that "in fact, the HJC and BJP should have entered into alliance well before the 2009 Assembly polls."
The 57-day yatra, which covered 90 Assembly seats of the state, today culminated here. The HJC is also celebrating its 7th foundation day today as Bishnoi and other senior leaders of the party and BJP from the state were present.
Striking a chord with people, Jaitley said, "this (Bishnoi`s) yatra has not ended. This will end on that day when Kuldeep Bishnoi will become Haryana`s Chief Minister and Narendra Modi will become country`s Prime Minister."
"If Bishnoi gives me permission to say this, I have no hesitation in accepting that we should have entered into this alliance in 2009.
"Had we done this, Hooda would not have been Chief Minister of Haryana today. Sometimes, in public life, there are some lapses and now to set it correct, we entered into this tie-up to realise the wish of the people of the state".
"This tie-up is at the grassroot-level and is here to stay," Jaitley said.
On November 1, senior BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi had attended and addressed a rally organised by the INLD at Kurukshetra to mark the 100th birth anniversary of party`s founder late Devi Lal.
After the rally, speculations were rife that the saffron party could enter into an alliance with the Om Prakash Chautala-led party as the Lok Sabha polls approach.
But today`s announcement have cleared the air on the matter and left INLD in a lurch when its top brass is in jail in junior basic trained (JBT) teachers` recruitment scam.
"People of Haryana are eagerly waiting to vote out Congress and see Bishnoi as next Chief Minister. From December 9, after Congress would have been defeated in the five states the HJC-BJP will start its joint campaign to vote out the Congress (in the Lok Sabha and from Haryana)," Jaitley said.
The BJP leader also launched a scathing attack on the Bhupinder Singh Hooda led Congress government in the state.
"Friends, I want to tell you the secret behind how the present Haryana government and its Chief Minister are functioning, which is that the state government and its CM are keeping one family in Delhi happy.
"He (Hooda) cares little for people of Haryana and its development and is more concerned about the development of that family, this is the secret how he became the Chief Minister," Jaitley claimed.
Hooda, who was Congress` MP from Rohtak then, had been hand-picked by the Congress high command in March 2005, and made state`s Chief Minister, edging out late Bhajan Lal from the race when the party (Cong) had returned to power in Haryana with an overwhelming majority, he said.
In his address, Bishnoi, however, wary of the fact that INLD was behind-the-scenes working to see that its tie-up with BJP fructifies, launched a sharp attack on the Chautalas.
He said that it was ironic that former Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala, who along his MP-son Ajay Singh Chautala are behind the bars in connection with a teachers recruitment scam, was being projected a role model by the INLD.
"How can Chautala, behind bars for his corrupt practices, be a role model," Bishnoi questioned.
Bishnoi, younger son of late Bhajan Lal, said that during the course of his 57-day Rath Yatra covering length and breadth of Haryana he has learnt a lot.
"I have learnt a lot from the people. I am happy that people have accepted HJC-BJP alliance as a viable alternative. At the same time, I was pained to see that outside Rohtak region, no development has taken place.
"During the course of my yatra, I saw watery eyes of farmers, but no water in canals. When our alliance comes to power in Haryana, within six months, we will ensure irrigation facilities to every farmer and if we fail, then the government will compensate," he said.
Bishnoi attacked the Hooda government for its alleged failure on all fronts and took a dig at "increasing number of crimes against women" in the state.
"Hooda says Haryana is number 1 in all spheres. Broken roads, parched fields, atrocities on Dalits, growing number of unemployed youths, crimes against women, kidnapping for ransom, regional bias in development, all these facts expose their claims," he said.
The HJC chief challenged Hooda to have a debate with him at any public platform on these burning issues.
"If I lose the debate, I will quit politics," he said.
He also alleged that a number of INLD MLAs and some legislators supporting the Hooda government were behind bars for their various acts of omission and commission.
"What type of Haryana are we making," Bishnoi said and asked the people to take a pledge to vote for a person with neat and clean image and credentials.
He also countered the Congress and INLD, who claim that Bishnoi and his party has no base outside Hisar.
Bishnoi promised to fight for bringing the water of SYL canal and ensure equitable distribution of water to all areas, if HJC-BJP comes to power.
In his address, BJP MLA and former State unit chief, Krishan Pal Gujjar said, "Congress is on its way out and BJP-HJC is coming to power. This tie-up is strong".
