Bhupinder Singh Hooda challenges BJP to make 'Gujarat model' poll issue in Haryana

 Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Sunday threw a challenge to the BJP leaders to make 'Gujarat model' of development a poll issue in poll-bound Haryana, saying they know too well that it will take the state backwards. "I challenge, let any of them (BJP leaders) talk about implementing Gujarat Model in Haryana. They won't, because they know that this will mean taking the State backwards," Hooda said addressing a public meeting in Prithla in Palwal district on Sunday.

Hooda said that while speaking at a rally in Uttar Pradesh before the Lok Sabha polls, Narendra Modi had given comparative figures of his state and UP with regards to the per capita income. "Modi had said in UP per capita income was Rs 33,000 whereas in Gujarat it was Rs 75,000. I want to tell him that per capita income in Haryana is highest in the country at Rs 1,35,000 and my state is far ahead in other spheres as well," he said.

Hooda said that if 'Gujarat model' were to be implemented in Haryana, "This will mean reducing the old-age pension from Rs 1,000 to around Rs 400 per month. The price of diesel will have to be hiked by us by Rs 8 per litre, while the electricity rate, being supplied to farmers at 10 paise per unit will have to hiked manifold." Haryana goes to polls in October this year and the BJP, which put up its best performance in 15 years in the recently held Lok Sabha polls, is eyeing to wrest power from the Congress.