A sharp political slugfest erupted in Haryana on Friday (April 10, 2026) over the contentious issue of crop procurement, with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the opposition Congress trading barbs over the treatment of farmers.

Former Chief Minister and the Leader of the Opposition, Congress party’s Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Friday (April 10, 2026) alleged the BJP government was harassing farmers by imposing arbitrary and unreasonable conditions in a bid to dodge its fundamental duty of buying their produce

Mr. Hooda, who visited the Pipli grain market in Kurukhetra, as a part of his ongoing tour of grain markets, said farmers, commission agents and laborers were facing immense difficulties due to the lack of smooth procurement operations and the imposition of various new conditions. “Instead of procuring wheat and mustard crops, the government is imposing one bizarre condition after another upon the farmers,” he said.

Mr. Hooda said he recently toured grain markets in Sampla, Narayangarh, Sadhaura, Barara and the Ambala to assess the problems faced by farmers and others. “The complaints are same all across the regions. The BJP government first imposed a mandatory registration requirement on a portal, followed by conditions regarding gate passes, biometric verification, tractor numbers, verification checks, and guarantors, imposing countless such conditions one after another. In essence, farmers, who sustain the nation through their hard work, are being treated like criminals in the grain markets. It is as if they have arrived carrying illicit goods rather than their harvested crops,” he said.

He alleged “The government appears to be making a concerted effort to keep farmers entangled in superfluous bureaucratic procedures simply to avoid having to procure their crops.”

Meanwhile, Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini hit out at the Congress and other Opposition parties, blaming them of misleading farmers over crop procurement. He said the BJP government has put in place comprehensive and robust arrangements to ensure a smooth, transparent, and hassle-free procurement process across all grain markets.

He said during the previous Congress government led by Bhupinder Singh Hooda, governance took a backseat and farmers were left to suffer. He alleged that farmers had to wait three to five days outside markets to sell their produce, faced shortage of gunny bags, and their crops were often damaged due to rain, forcing them to arrange tarpaulins at their own expense.