Hooda asks Congress workers to gear up for Haryana Assembly polls 

Former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda Sunday asked party workers to gear up for the upcoming Vidhan Sabha polls in the state, saying it was time to put up a united fight to oust the BJP government.

Hooda has called a meeting of party's state unit leaders in Delhi in view of the Vidhan Sabha polls in Haryana, which are due in October.

At the meeting in Delhi, which was attended by several Congress MLAs from Haryana, former legislators and former MPs, the former chief minister asked the party workers not be dejected by the results of parliamentary polls and asked them to gear up for the coming state assembly elections.

"There is no place for dejection. During the past four-and-a-half years, Congress has been fighting for the rights and raising the voice of Dalits, traders, employees, youths, women and other sections. We have been fighting their battle, which has entered a decisive phase now.

"Congress is the only real opposition left in the state as people have rejected other parties. Time has come to throw out this government, which only made tall promises, but failed to perform," he told the meeting, as per a statement.

He said the nationalism issue raked up by the BJP and the "Modi factor" went in favour of the saffron party during the LS polls.

Hooda, however, said that "local issues" will dominate the Vidhan Sabha polls and claimed people will throw out the M.L. Khattar government as it had "failed to perform".

Addressing the gathering, the two-time chief minister said, in his long political career he has seen how quickly political circumstances can change and cited the example of Aam Aadmi Party, which swept Delhi assembly elections barely weeks after the BJP had put up a stupendous performance in the 2014 LS polls.

At the meeting, a few resolutions were passed including the one in which Rahul Gandhi was urged to continue guiding the Congress in this "difficult time" and not to think of going ahead with his resignation as the party chief.

The party meeting also resolved that all Congressmen will fight unitedly to oust the BJP government in the state.