More than a week after losing the Sonepat Lok Sabha constituency by a margin of 1.5 lakh votes, former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda visited Rohtak to address party workers and asked them to start preparing for the upcoming state assembly polls.

“We lost only one fight, the battle shall go on,” he said. Asking party workers to not be discouraged by the Lok Sabha polls’ verdict, Hooda said wins and losses are part of a political leader’s life.

Talking to mediapersons, Hooda attributed his loss to the Modi wave, but maintained that it will not work for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Vidhan Sabha elections. “If it were not for the Modi wave, my workers would have ensured me a win. But Modi wave was for Delhi, not Chandigarh. People are aware of the state BJP government’s poor work in the last five years,” said Hooda.

Questioning the alleged incident of booth capturing in Rohtak, Hooda said if it had done by a minister under his cabinet, he would have had suspended him immediately. “It was shameful that a BJP minister openly violated the model code of conduct and led musclemen inside booths. More shameful is that neither the state government nor the CM took any action against him,” Hooda said.

Replying to a question, Hooda condemned incarcerated former CM Om Prakash Chautala’s remarks on chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar. “I have always maintained that political leaders should not make irresponsible remarks against each other,” he said.

First Published: Jun 03, 2019 12:38 IST