"Tiranga Yatra was my suggestion," says Congress leader Deepender Hooda
Haryana [India], May 25 (ANI): Congress leader Deepender Singh Hooda on Sunday condemned the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and said that the Tiranga Yatra was originally his own suggestion.
'I had proposed the idea for Tiranga Yatra. Even Chief Minister Nayab Saini had said it was not a good idea. But later, the ruling party held the yatra at their own level,' Hooda said.
'We will always raise our voice for the public,' he added.
Commenting further, Hooda said that 'one BJP MLA even questioned' Congress' connection with agriculture. 'BJP's pride is on the seventh heaven,' he added.
The Congress leader also remarked that any attempts to silence the Opposition will not be tolerated.
On Tuesday, former Haryana Chief Minister and Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda also criticised the Haryana government over a series of issues, including the hike in farm loan interest rates, alleged spying for Pakistan, and governance decisions.
Hooda accused the Haryana government of betraying farmers by raising crop loan interest rates from zero per cent to seven per cent. He claimed that during the Congress-led UPA government, interest on agricultural loans had been drastically reduced.
Speaking to ANI, Hooda said, 'It belonged to the farmer or cooperative, it was 11 to 12 per cent in the nationalised bank, then the UPA government reduced it to seven per cent. And when I was appointed Chairman, it was implemented in the whole country that any bank, whether nationalised or cooperative, cannot charge more than four per cent interest. Crop loans will be given, which was implemented across the country.'
He further claimed, 'We had reduced the crop loan to zero per cent in the Cooperative Bank in Haryana. A letter has just come with zero per cent for the farmer who will give it back on time. I have seen that Hisar Cooperative Bank has charged seven per cent interest on these packs. Interest is imposed from zero per cent to seven per cent. This clarification should be done. The government cannot do this without it.' (ANI)
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