BJP, Congress trade barbs over law and order in Haryana Assembly

Chandigarh, Aug 26 (PTI) The Haryana Assembly witnessed a heated debate over the law and order issue, with the opposition Congress accusing the ruling BJP of failing to curb crime, and Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini countering the charges with data.

Congress members claimed that there has been a spurt in the incidents of murder, rape, extortion, and ransom calls under the BJP rule, with criminals operating from inside jails and people living in fear.

The BJP benches countered the claims, and Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, backed by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mahipal Dhanda, gave figures to claim that there has been a decline in heinous crimes like murders. They also cited several incidents that took place when the Congress party was in power in Haryana.

Saini took on former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and said the Congress government under him failed to rein in heinous crimes like rape and murder.

In his response, Hooda said, “I have been elected MP and MLA multiple times, but I haven't seen this kind of attitude where we are insulted like this." The Congress veteran, accompanied by his party members, then staged a walkout.

As Saini continued to speak, he targeted the opposition party, saying, “They cannot listen to the truth; their situation is strange”.

Earlier, during his speech, Saini said, "Our government considers maintaining law and order as the top priority. Our policy is zero tolerance towards crime, backed by full operational freedom to the police for swift, lawful, and effective action." He claimed that during the Congress rule, the hands of police were tied. But now free registration of FIRs, prompt investigations, swift arrests, and timely filing of charge-sheets have ensured that justice is delivered without delay, he said.

"Our uncompromising motto is: no innocent will be harassed, and no criminal will be spared," the CM said.

Speaker Harvinder Kalyan had on Friday accepted the Opposition's adjournment motion demanding discussion on the law and order issue after the House witnessed stormy scenes and six adjournments with the Congress MLAs demanding a discussion on the issue.

During the nearly four-hour-long debate on Tuesday, Congress' Geeta Bhukkal said the National Crime Records Bureau figures show that the overall crime rate, including crime against women and children, is higher in Haryana as compared to other states.

"People are feeling insecure, and ransoms are being demanded by criminals from inside jails. People are living in the shadow of fear. This is worrisome," she alleged.

"A liquor contractor was shot dead in Kurukshetra. Congress' Himani Narwal was murdered earlier this year, INLD state president (Nafe Singh Rathee) was killed in 2024, and recently, INLD chief Abhay Singh Chautala has also got a threat (from an unknown person). Our party MLA Jassi Petwar has also received a threat,” she alleged.

Hooda said, earlier the state’s crime rate per lakh population was 16.2 per cent, which has now risen to 31.8 per cent.

Similarly, Congress member B B Batra cited NCRB figures to say, “Haryana is at the number third spot in murder cases in the country, third in rape cases, second in attempt to rape cases, and tops the chart when it comes to crimes against women.” Chief Minister Saini, however, said under the BJP rule between 2014 and 2024, the state’s crime rate declined substantially. Murders fell by 12.75 per cent, dacoities by 49.41 per cent, robberies by 10.52 per cent, and riots by 20.78 per cent, despite a 13.76 per cent rise in population, the chief minister said.

In contrast, when the Congress was in power during 2004-2014, these very heads had surged by 50.88 per cent, 230.76 per cent, 258.2 per cent, and 178 per cent respectively, he claimed.

In 2004, the number of rape cases in Haryana was 386, which rose to 1,174 in 2014. There was a threefold increase, Saini said. "But look at the insensitivity of the Congress government that it opened only one women's police station," he added.

"Sometimes, I wonder why Hooda did not act the way he should have when there was a threefold increase in rape cases. I don't know what pressure he was under," Saini said.

Meanwhile, Congress leader Ashok Arora said the law and order issue concerns all and referred to the Bhiwani teacher death case, whose probe has been given to the CBI.

“In the Bhiwani case, such was the mistrust among people towards the authorities that her postmortem had to be done thrice,” Arora said.

Minister Krishan Kumar Bedi said Haryana Police was taking action against criminals, but the opposition wants to break the morale of this force by raising several questions.

"Investors want to set up more units in Haryana, but our opposition wants to portray a negative picture of the state," said Bedi, which triggered a sharp reaction from the Congress benches.

Bedi also asked the Congress to recall the time when several incidents of atrocities against the Dalit community took place when the grand old party ruled Haryana.

INLD's Arjun Chautala, in a reference to various figures being cited both by the Congress and the BJP, said, the figures don’t matter “if we are unable to give a sense of security to citizens.” “When criminals openly indulge in crime without any fear, they want to convey that they are above the law and are openly throwing a challenge," Chautala said. PTI SUN RHL