Hoodas hold Kisan-Majdoor rally in Chautala bastion; promise memorial for farmers who died during agitation

Former Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda announces National Farmers Movement Memorial & martyrs status for those who died in the agitation against the agriculture laws.

Former Haryana Chief Minister and Congress veteran Bhupinder Singh Hooda said on Sunday that a national memorial will be set up for the farmers and farm workers who died during the year-old agitation against the controversial agriculture laws.

Speaking at the “Kisan-Majdoor Jan Akrosh” rally at the HUDA ground in Sirsa, he also promised ‘martyr’ status to Haryana farmers who died during the agitation and a government job to their next of kin.

“When the Congress government is formed in the State, a National Farmers Movement Memorial will be built in Haryana in memory of 750 farmers and farm workers,” said Mr. Hooda, adding that the Congress had resolved to guarantee farmers minimum support price and freedom from debt. The party leaders also observed a two-minute silence to pay tribute to the farmers and farm workers who died during the agitation.

With the rally, the Congress aims to politically strengthen itself in the Sirsa-Fatehabad-Hisar-Jind belt dominated mostly by the Jats and the farmers, which has been the core vote bank of the party, to counter the BJP in the upcoming Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in 2024.

Local political analysts said the well-attended rally in the Sirsa, the Chautalas’s bastion, was a good sign for the Congress and could hint at the consolidation of the farmers and the Jats in this region behind the Hoodas and the Congress. The BJP has little presence in this region, with most of the seats held by the INLD, the JJP and Independents, besides the Congress.

The earlier rallies in the region by the party have also garnered huge response.