Former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Sunday promised 50 per cent cut in electricity tariffs if the Congress returns to power in the state.

Addressing a rally during the fourth leg of his JankrantiYatra at the Anaaj Mandi at Tohana in Fatehabad district, Hooda also blasted the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government for pushing the farmers into acute distress and now misleading them with false promises.

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He said the Congress government would provide relief to all sections of the society from rising power tariffs in the state. “The Congress government will provide a 50 per cent reduction in the power tariffs after the elections. We don’t make false promises, we had waived pending electricity bills worth Rs 1,600 Crore which was a promise made by someone else,” the former CM said.

Hooda attacked the BJP on its attempts to mislead the farmers on remunerative pricing for agricultural commodities. “The government claims to have implemented the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission and is patting itself on the back after it raised the MSP (minimum support price) of paddy to Rs 1,750 per quintal and cotton to Rs 5,150 per quintal, claiming that farmers are being given 50 per cent profits,” he said.

“Farmers of Haryana know that they were getting Rs 5,000 per quintal for paddy and Rs 7,500 per quintal for cotton. Under the circumstances, there seems to be no justification for fixing the MSPs at Rs 1,750 and Rs 5150,” the former CM said.

Hooda also took on the state government for its failure to maintain law and order in the state and said it was a matter of shame for all of us that Haryana has become the number one in the country for crime against women. “The situation has become so bad that the police have stopped registering cases and the horrible case in Panchkula is the latest example,” he said.

“In 2014, Haryana was number one in the country in per-capita income, per-capita investments, agriculture, sports and several other fields. The BJP has pushed the state into despair. If the people bring back the Congress, we will bring back the state to its old glory and make Haryana the number one state in progress and development,” he added.