Hooda asks Congress workers to gear up for next year's polls

Senior Congress leader and former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Thursday asked his party workers to gear up for next year's polls to oust the Manohar Lal Khattar government from power.

Hooda told the workers to be present in large number at the seventh phase of his 'Jankranti Yatra', which will start from Barwala in Hisar, on November 25.

"(Lok Sabha) Polls are round-the-corner. It should not come as a surprise if they (the ruling BJP government) decide to opt for holding the Vidhan Sabha polls (due by October 2019) along with the parliamentary elections," he said.

Hooda accused the BJP of not keeping its promises made to the people in Haryana.

"The government has failed to fulfill its promises dashing hopes of the public. It has failed on all fronts and now people are eager to bring the Congress back to power," he said.

"Prices of fertilisers and pesticides and diesel have risen, putting a burden on the farmers," the former chief minister said.

Asked to comment on recent developments in the INLD and the Chautala family, he said he had always maintained that the main opposition party was ruling the BJP's "B team".

"I don't want to comment on their family and internal matters. But the struggle for power which is out wide in the open has unmasked their true face which makes it clear that they only want to grab power and do not care about people's issues," the senior Congress leader said.