Randeep Surjewala attacks former Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda

Kaithal (Haryana): Senior Congress leader Randeep Surjewala on Sunday said there are people in the party who are only seeking a post. The Congress general secretary did not name anyone but his remarks are being seen as a veiled attack on former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

In the past, Hooda has also been targeted by other senior Congress leaders Kumari Selja and Kiran Choudhary.

Addressing a gathering here as part of the party's Jan Akrosh Pradarshan programme, Surjewala attacked the BJP-JJP dispensation over alleged discrepancies in the data collected for the Haryana government's flagship scheme of issuing property identity cards.

It has adversely affected the lives of people living in 88 cities of the state, he said.

Surjewala also took on the Manohar Lal Khattar government over unemployment and the terms and conditions of the Common Eligibility Test (CET).

The event was also attended by Choudhary. Selja, the party's Chhattisgarh in-charge, did not attend the programme as she was taking part in an event in the Congress-governed state.

Surjewala also raised farmers' issues and the losses suffered by them due to the recent floods.

Selja, Choudhary and he himself will raise the farmers' voice, he said.

Surjewala then switched gears and launched a veiled dig at Hooda.

He said, "Congress mein aise log bhi hai jo kewal pad maang rahe hai ... Hum pad maangne ki ladai nahi lad rahe, hum aapke dukh aur takleef ko harane ki ladai lad rahe hai (In the Congress, there are people who only seek posts. We are not fighting a battle for posts, we are fighting so that people get succour)." "This is the difference between them and us," he said.

Surjewala, Selja and Choudhary have been in recent weeks been holding programmes in different parts of the state ahead of the Lok Sabha polls next year and the assembly elections due later in 2024.

Hooda, the Leader of Opposition in the Haryana Assembly, and these leaders have not been seen in each other's events in recent months.

Last year, in a veiled attack on Hooda, Choudhary said that those who think she can be limited to her home district of Bhiwani are mistaken.

Surjewala said he, Choudhary and Selja have taken a pledge under the leadership of Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge and leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi that the party will become the voice of those whose voices are not heard by the government.

Surjewala also made a reference to last month's Yuva Adhikar Yatra on the CET issue.

Selja, Surjewala and Choudhary had walked a few kilometres as part of the march in Karnal when they tried to head towards the chief minister's Karnal residence to submit a memorandum.

He said all the 3.59 lakh youths who cleared the Haryana Staff Selection Commission's CET for various posts should get a chance to appear in the main exam. He also questioned if the number of candidates called for the main exam is only four times the number of posts advertised, then where the rest will go.

He said the youth are not afraid of walking in hot weather to seek justice but they are scared of this government's excesses.

"They are not getting an opportunity, this government is playing with their futures. That is why we walked 17 kilometres to seek justice for these youths. You are even snatching their opportunity to sit in the exams," he said, hitting out at BJP-JJP government.

He said the BJP and the JJP are parties of "demons". Those who vote for and support the BJP are also "evil in nature".

"Today, on this land of the Mahabharata, I curse them (BJP-JJP)," he said.

"Go and ask the parents (of those not called to appear for the test) … They are saying at least give them (the job aspirants) the opportunity to sit for the exam if you cannot give jobs to them," Surjewala further said.

On the property identity card issue, Surjewala said a survey was conducted by a private company that allegedly committed a large number of errors and people are now being forced to move from pillar to post for no fault of theirs.

He added that they will forcefully raise the issue.