Hitting back at the opposition on Sutlej Yamuna link (SYl) canal issue, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar lal Khattar on Monday accused the opposition of political gimmicks and said the Congress should prevent Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh from stopping water flow to Haryana through the SYl Canal.
The Chief Minister has been under fire from the opposition, first for not arranging a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the SYl issue and later, for meeting the Prime Minister on last Saturday without taking opposition leaders along.
Taking a strong exception to the statements of Congress leaders against him, Manohar lal, who was in Faridabad on Monday said that while earlier they criticised him for not meeting the Prime Minister on the vital issues of Sutlej Yamuna link Canal, GST and issues of farmers, now as he has discussed all these issues with the Prime Minister, they are accusing him for not take them along.
He pointed out that they represented 2.5 crore people of the State and by not trusting the Chief Minister, the opposition has insulted the people of Haryana.
In case Congress leaders Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Kuldeep Sharma have to approach someone, they may call on their leader Sonia Gandhi and urge her to prevent Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh who has repeatedly been saying that he would not let the waters flow to Haryana through the SYl Canal, said the Chief Minister, while lashing out at the Congress.
Manohar lal also questioned that who were they to prevent Haryana from getting the waters through SYl canal. The Supreme Court had already delivered its verdict in favour of Haryana and another decision was still awaited. Thereafter, no one would be able to stop construction of SYl canal, he added.
Continuing his tirade against the Congress, the Chief Minister accused the opposition for shedding crocodile tears by saying that no development was taking place.
Manohar lal also challenged the Congress leaders to go to the masses to see for themselves whether development was taking place or not.
While quoting statistics, the Chief Minister said that in last about two-and-a-half years, about 3,500 announcements were made and work on 44 per cent of these has been completed and the remaining would be completed within next one year. In the ten years rule of the Congress, 6,400 announcements were made, he said.
He added that if his Government got ten years to rule with the support of the people, more than 10,000 announcements would be made and all these would be fulfilled.
The Chief Minister also ridiculed the assertions made by Congress leaders who term his Government as “Feta Katu Sarkar” (Ribbon cutting Government), and said that whenever any foundation stone is laid or a project is inaugurated, the Congress leaders do not leave the opportunity to claim that it was their project.
He further questioned the Congress that what was the necessity to make announcements in the year 2013, but did not complete them despite the fact that they had one year from November 1, 2013 to October 2014.
While terming the tenure of the Government as a continuous process, the Chief Minister said that all shortcomings of the previous Government would be met with and all the announcements made by his Government would also be achieved.
Taking a dig at the Congress for indulging in corruption during its tenure, Manohar lal said that the present State Government is rendering selfless service to the society but not amassing wealth for future generations.