Former Haryana chief minister and Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Thursday accused the BJP-led government in the state of creating lakhs of fake ration cards to influence voters during last year’s elections.
Addressing the media, Hooda claimed that the number of ration cards in Haryana rose sharply from 11.09 lakh in 2020-21 to 51.96 lakh in 2024. During the same period, the number of beneficiaries of government welfare schemes increased from 52.40 lakh to 2.13 crore.
“By doing this, the BJP effectively declared 80% of Haryana as below poverty line (BPL),” Hooda said. He added that after the general elections, 41 lakh ration cards were cancelled across the country, with Haryana accounting for the highest number of cancellations at 13,43,474. “As a result, ration supplies for more than 70 lakh people have been stopped. This clearly shows that the BJP cheated the public to secure votes,” he alleged.
Hooda further accused the government of backtracking on its promises to women. He said the BJP had promised ₹2,100 per month to all 85 lakh women in Haryana but is now talking about extending the benefit to only 5 lakh women.
Raising concerns over recruitment processes, Hooda alleged that the Nayab Singh Saini-led government has failed Haryana’s youth by allowing outsiders to dominate selections. He claimed that in the Haryana Power Utilities assistant engineer recruitment, only 29 of the 214 selected candidates in the general category were from Haryana.
Similarly, in the Haryana Public Service Commission’s English assistant professor recruitment, less than 8% of Haryana candidates were shortlisted for interviews. In political science, 11 of the 18 candidates shortlisted in the general category were from outside the state, he said.
The former chief minister further alleged that 78 of the 80 candidates selected for the post of SDO (Electrical) were from other states. In lecturer Group-B technical education recruitment, 103 of 157 posts were filled by outsiders. He also claimed that in the Haryana Civil Services examination, every third selected candidate was from outside the state, while four of the seven posts in the block development and panchayat department were filled by non-Haryana candidates.
On farmers’ issues, Hooda accused the government of failing to provide minimum support price (MSP) despite its claims of offering MSP on 24 crops. He said paddy, with an MSP of ₹2,389 per quintal, was procured at ₹1,500-2,000 per quintal. Bajra was sold at ₹1,850-1,900 per quintal against an MSP of ₹2,250, while crops such as moong and cotton were also not purchased at MSP, he alleged.
