Congress MLAs Led by Former CM Hooda, Gherao Haryana Assembly; raise Slogans on dozens of issues, including MNREGA, unemployment, and toll collection

Chandigarh, February 24, 2026: Congress MLAs today marched to the Assembly, leading a protest against the BJP government. All the MLAs gheraoed the Assembly under the leadership of Leader of the Opposition and former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. Congress State President Rao Narendra Singh was also present at the protest, which began from High Court Chowk to the Assembly.

During the protest, Congress MLAs held placards with various issues in one hand and rattles in the other, raising slogans. Through this symbolic protest, the Congress party sent a clear message that the people of Haryana are grappling with numerous serious problems, while the BJP government is busy making false promises and empty promises.

The following issues were primarily raised during the demonstration:

* Corruption in MNREGA and the problems of laborers

* Paddy procurement scam

* Poor condition of sports stadiums and neglect of athletes

* Irregularities in the HPSC

* Misuse of the education system

* Flaws in the Lado Laxmi Yojana

* Irregularities in BPL ration cards

* Neglect of farmers and their problems

* Scams exposed in the CAG report

* Unemployment and job crisis

* Allegations of providing jobs to outsiders

* The drug problem and the rise in organized crime

* The plight of Haryana's youth stranded abroad

* The failure of the Ayushman and Chirayu schemes

* The blatant loot system of toll collection in the state

Congress MLAs demanded immediate action from the government on all these issues and warned that if the public's problems are not addressed, the agitation will intensify. Hooda said that as a responsible opposition, Congress will raise public issues on every platform, from the streets to the House. The more the BJP shirks its responsibility, the more vigorously Congress will advocate for the public. Ultimately, the government will have to be held accountable.

Speaking to reporters, Hooda said that the BJP government has failed on every front. From law and order to the economy, employment to inflation, agriculture to education, health to sanitation, the BJP has demonstrated its failure and incompetence in all areas.

This government is neither able to provide MSP and compensation to farmers, nor is it providing employment to youth, nor is it able to provide quality education to students, nor is it providing security to the public. The way crimes and scams are taking place in the state, it seems as if there is no such thing as a government here. The state has been left to scamsters and gangsters.

Regarding the pension cuts to the elderly, the Leader of the Opposition said that now the government is claiming to restore 70,000 pensions. Whereas the government previously claimed it hadn't cut anyone's pension. If not, why are they being restored? Along with pensions, ration cards issued before the elections are now being cancelled, which is vote theft in itself. Nearly 1.4 million ration cards have been cancelled in Haryana since the elections. In Ambala alone, 54,000 ration cards have been cancelled.

Hooda said that the Congress government increased the old-age pension from ₹200 to ₹1,500, a seven-and-a-half-fold increase. Meanwhile, the BJP government has only increased it twice in 11 years, while inflation has risen three to four times.

He further said that farmers are constantly being discriminated against under this government. The weight of a fertilizer bag has been reduced from 50 to 40 kg, while the rates remain the same. The claim of providing MSP for 24 crops is also false; Haryana doesn't grow that many crops. More than ₹2,000 crore in profits were generated from the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, but claims are not received, and people are abandoning insurance. Not even 10% of the compensation has been paid yet.

On MNREGA, Hooda said that MNREGA was a revolutionary scheme of the Congress. During the Congress government, Haryana paid the highest wages to workers in the country. However, as soon as the BJP came to power, it undermined workers' rights. After coming to power, the BJP began weakening MNREGA. The Congress's response to a question in Parliament revealed that over 800,000 MNREGA workers were registered in Haryana. However, in 2024-25, the government provided 100 days of work to only 2,100 families. The government neither provided workers with work nor provided compensation as provided in the scheme.

The Leader of the Opposition said that this government has betrayed women in the name of the Lado Laxmi Yojana. He said that during the elections, a promise was made to provide Rs. 2,100 per month to all women, but now only a few women are receiving this amount. While 21.3 million people in Haryana were in the BPL category in 2024-25, approximately 8.5 million women should have benefited from this scheme. However, the government is currently talking about providing funds to only 800,000 women.

Not only this, it is now being said that women will receive only ₹1,100 and a ₹1,000 deposit. Conditions such as income limits, children's education, and malnutrition have also been imposed. The government is deliberately imposing such conditions so that most women are automatically excluded from the beneficiary list.

Responding to a question about giving jobs to outsiders, Hooda said that the BJP is sabotaging the future of Haryana's youth. No such system exists in the country.