Opposition parties in Haryana today flayed senior Congress leader Birender Singh for his 'politics is the best business in India' remark, saying it "reflects" the state of affairs in the ruling party.
leaders of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Indian National lok Dal (INlD) said the Rajya Sabha MP from Haryana had earlier too made such remarks and alleged that it showed how the ruling Congress was running the state government.
"From time to time, Chaudhary Birender Singh keeps making such statements. Earlier, he had said that there were people who were ready to shell out up to Rs 100 crore to get a Rajya Sabha seat. This time his remarks that politics is the best business reflect the state of affairs within the Congress," BJP leader and Ambala MlA, Anil Vij told PTI over phone.
"What Birender Singh said acutally fits the way the Congress has run this country over the years by treating politics like a business, resulting in declining faith towards the politicians among the common man," he said.
Singh, who had earlier kicked up a row with his 'Rs 100 crore for a Rajya Sabha seat remark', had yesterday in Ambala said there were many people who had failed in other professions but made billions through politics.
Vij claimed that Singh may have also been pointing to the alleged land scams in Haryana as he is known detractor of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and is critical of the way of functioning of his government.
"Recently, many Haryana Congress MlAs were shown in a sting operation seeking money for facilitating the Change of land Use (ClUs) at various places in Haryana. Birender Singh could have been pointing to this fact by saying that politics has become a business these days. He should identify as who he is referring to," Vij claimed.
Main opposition Indian National lok Dal's (INlD) state unit president Ashok Arora said that Singh should first clarify what he actually meant to say. "He is senior leader of the Congress, first he should clarify his stand because earlier too he had made some statement over people willing to shell out huge money for the Rajya Sabha seats, but retracted later on.
"Chaudhary Birender Singh is in politics for a long time. By saying that politics is the best business, if he meant it for a particular set of politicians, then he should name them otherwise to brand all politicians with one brush is not correct," he said. "let an inquiry be held if Birender Singh has specific names of people, who he feels have made politics a business," Arora said.
On Singh saying that genuine people who wanted to dovalue-based politics were suppressed, Arora said, "honest people who do value-based politics can never be suppressed".
Adressing a public meeting in Ambala, Singh had said one can join politics if one fails as a doctor or an engineer. "And many of them succeed in such a way, they play not in millions but in billions and try to suppress the right people in politics," Birender Singh had said. Union Minister and Ambala MP Selja, who is also a known detractor of Hooda, was also present at the public meeting.
A few months back, Singh had started a controversy when he claimed that there were people who were ready to shell out up to Rs 100 crore to get a Rajya Sabha seat. Singh, who is Hooda's known detractor, was almost certain to be inducted in the Union Cabinet during its last reshuffle, but was dropped at the last moment, with those close to the leader blaming the Chief Minister's camp for this.
Singh, who often makes public his aspiration of becoming the Chief Minister of Haryana one day, has from time to time been voicing discontent against the state government's alleged regional bias in development works.