Cong leader Hooda hints at wait-and-see approach regarding seat-sharing in Haryana

Chandigarh, Dec 20 (PTI) As seat-sharing calculations continue apace in the INDIA bloc, Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Wednesday said it remains to be seen which party claims what and on what basis in Haryana.

"Let us see first who claims what, what is the basis of that claim, what are the parameters, for this we will sit and decide...otherwise we will claim all 10 (Lok Sabha) seats," Hooda said on the pre-Lok Sabha seat-sharing scramble.

Asked if the Indian National Lok Dal too could be part of INDIA bloc, Hooda said, "it is not yet part of the bloc and it is up to them (senior leaders of the alliance) to decide." "I have no objection against anyone," he added.

At Tuesday's meeting of INDIA bloc partners, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said seat-sharing talks will be held at the state level, and if any issues arise, the bloc leadership will address them.

Hooda had in September said his party is capable of winning both the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls on its own. He had also said the Congress will contest all 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana in next year's general election.

The former Haryana chief minister had also then claimed that the Aam Aadmi Party had no base in the state, thus, no stake in seat-sharing exercise.

On Kharge's name proposed as the prime ministerial face of the coalition, Hooda reiterated the Congress' national president's assertion that it is important to win first and the leadership issue can then be decided "democratically." State Congress chief Udai Bhan, who was also present with Hooda when he spoke with reporters, said the party had on Monday launched its 'Donate for Desh' crowd funding campaign and under it the state unit received Rs 1.5 crore in donations.

Bhan said the INDIA bloc will hold a nationwide protest on Friday against the suspension of 141 MPs from Parliament.

This is the first instance that so many have been suspended, he said.

Hooda, meanwhile, said that unemployment rate has increased under the BJP-led government in Haryana, but the government has failed to take concrete steps to tackle it.

On the Winter Session of the State Assembly which concluded on Tuesday, Hooda alleged that the government did not give satisfactory replies to various issues which were raised by the opposition.

"During the previous Congress government's time, unemployment rate in 2012 was 4.3 per cent, 2.9 per cent in 2014, and after the BJP government came to power (in October 2014), it started to increase. It was 3.3 per cent in 2015-16, 5.2 percent in 2016-17, 8.4 per cent in 2017-18 and 9.3 per cent in 2018-19," he told reporters.

"In a reply to a question in Parliament raised by (Congress' Rajya Sabha MP) Deepender Singh Hooda (in July), Union Minister of State for Labour and Employment Rameswar Teli said the unemployment rate in Haryana was 9.0 per cent in 2021-22," Hooda said.

Often under attack from opposition over unemployment issue, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had on Tuesday in the Assembly said that according to the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) report, the unemployment rate in Haryana during July-September was 5.2 per cent, while the national level figure stood at 6.6 per cent.

Hooda, who is Leader of the Opposition in the state, also claimed there were more than two lakh posts lying vacant in various government departments in Haryana. PTI