Haryana govt evaded answers to issues raised by Cong in Assembly, says Hooda

Former Haryana chief minister and Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Wednesday, September 2, accused the Nayab Singh Saini government of evading answers to several issues raised by the Congress during the Monsoon session of the state Assembly.

Hooda said the BJP government avoided discussions on issues raised by the main opposition during the session, which concluded here on Tuesday.

Addressing reporters alongside several Congress MLAs, including Ashok Arora, B B Batra, Aftab Ahmed and Geeta Bhukkal, Hooda said the party had moved an adjournment motion over a multi-crore bank scam in Haryana, but it was rejected.

He alleged the government did not want a discussion on the matter as it could have brought several issues to light.

"No satisfactory reply was given on HKRN (Haryana Kaushal Rozgar Nigam) issue. On the issue pertaining to the mistreatment with Congress MLAs on August 27, they did not answer as to on whose direction the legislators were stopped," Hooda said.

The Congress has demanded that all those recruited through HKRN, which supplies contractual manpower to government departments in the state, be regularised and that all future recruitment be carried out only on a regular basis.

Hooda said the government's claim of providing job protection through HKRN was far from the reality, alleging that several people had approached him after losing their jobs.

"They claim they are giving a job guarantee, but they have made educated youth daily wagers. Yesterday, many women from Ambala came and met me. They said their contract was terminated and they were informed via a message on WhatsApp," he said.

On the August 27 incident outside the Assembly complex, the Congress has alleged that its MLAs were manhandled by security personnel.

Hooda said instead of answering questions over the alleged mistreatment, the government and the chief minister were blaming Congress legislators.

"They are blaming us instead of saying on whose orders the MLAs were stopped. This government is a failure; it is not ready to be accountable," he alleged.

Chief Minister Saini had on Tuesday said he was surprised that some Congress MLAs had allegedly gone to the extent of "manhandling" security personnel at the entrance of the Vidhan Sabha. He had also alleged that Hooda was involved in the incident.

Responding to the chief minister's charge, Hooda said the Congress had demanded that a House committee examine the entire episode and that the video footage be scrutinised in detail.

"I even said that let them register an FIR against me if they think I have done anything wrong," he said.

Hooda also alleged that the government failed to provide a satisfactory response on sanitation workers, who have been on strike for nearly a month seeking regularisation of their services.

He further alleged that Congress MLA Geeta Bhukkal was targeted by the treasury benches during a discussion on a resolution related to programmes to mark the 650th birth anniversary of Guru Ravidas.

Bhukkal said she had only quoted a couplet of Guru Ravidas after BJP MLA Ram Kumar Gautam made a remark against Hooda in the House.

"Since Bhukkal is a Dalit, they tried to suppress her," Hooda alleged.

Congress MLA B B Batra questioned how a privilege motion moved on Monday by a BJP legislator against Congress MLA Induraj Narwal could be admitted in the House when Narwal had only taken away a poster from BJP legislator Jarnail Singh's hand, arguing that displaying a poster was not permitted.

Hooda also questioned the state government's claims of providing jobs purely on merit, saying irregularities in several recruitments had been exposed.

"How many paper leak incidents have happened?" he asked.

The former chief minister also raised concerns over Haryana's "growing debt" and its "poor" ranking in the NITI Aayog Fiscal Health Index.

Hooda said Haryana ranked 14th in the fiscal health index and claimed it stood 15th among states in the debt index.

He claimed the state's debt had risen to more than Rs 5.5 lakh crore, compared with nearly Rs 70,000 crore in 2014.

Hooda also accused the BJP government of relying on what he called "four Ps" -- "Prachar, Police, Portals and Polarisation".

"They have no other work. They are not concerned about development or the future of youth," he said.

Alleging that corruption was rampant across sectors, Hooda said only "Patwaris and clerks" were being caught while the "big fish" were allowed to go scot-free.

"This government is a failure; it is a non-performing government, they do not have any answers," he said.

Raising another issue, Hooda said payments of around Rs 1,200 crore owed to private hospitals in Haryana against Ayushman claims had remained pending for months.