Govt failed to answer Oppn's questions in Assembly, alleges Hooda; CM Saini hits back

Chandigarh, Aug 28 (PTI) Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Thursday alleged that Haryana ministers did not come prepared and the government failed to answer the Opposition's questions in the recently held Monsoon session of the Assembly.

"Neither ministers nor the chief minister came prepared. The BJP government kept running away from the Opposition's questions during the entire Assembly session and did not give a direct and clear answer to any question which was raised," the former chief minister told reporters here.

Hooda said Congress MLAs asked questions on all issues, ranging from law and order to farmers, condition of roads, hospitals, inflation, corruption, unemployment, water logging and crop damage, those about Ayushman Bharat Yojana and health services, problems related to rice shellers and diseases in paddy and cards of a large number of people deleted from the BPL category, among other issues.

"But the government neither had an answer to any question nor a solution to any problem," he said.

The Monsoon session of the Haryana Assembly concluded here on Wednesday.

Asked to comment on Hooda's claims that the government did not come prepared and failed to answer the opposition's questions, Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini said the Congress had no issue.

"They had no issue to raise," Saini told reporters on the sidelines of a cabinet meeting chaired by him.

The chief minister also said that Congress leaders carried posters commenting on Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme, but they forgot that it was during the grand old party's rule when Haryana was infamous for female foeticide.

Hooda said the BJP government's claim of giving minimum support price (MSP) on 24 crops is being exposed again and again.

"After paddy and maize, sunflowers grown by the farmer were also sold in the mandis at a rate much lower than the MSP. Instead of Rs 2,400 per quintal MSP, farmers got only Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,400 for maize," he added.

"Whenever farmers ask for MSP, the government entangles them in the web of portals. Now registration on the portal of Meri Fasal Mera Byora has been made mandatory for fertilisers as well.

"That means the government has completely washed its hands off the responsibility of MSP and giving fertilisers," he claimed.

Hooda alleged there has been a scam in making below poverty line (BPL) cards in Haryana.

"As the elections came near last year, lakhs of BPL cards were made in a hurry. Cards were also made for those people who were ineligible for it.

"By doing this, the BJP took the votes of lakhs of people in the elections and now, after forming the government for the third time, it has started showing its true colours," he said.

"Now BPL cards of thousands of families are being cut every day and this also includes families that are below the poverty line, thus depriving them of the benefits of government schemes," he added, terming "first the addition and later deletion of BPL as vote theft".

On Tuesday, while responding to a question raised by a Congress MLA in the state Assembly, Saini had rubbished the Opposition's claim of irregularity in issuing the BPL cards, saying his government only made the process more transparent and simpler.

On law and order, Hooda claimed the BJP government misled the Assembly.

"Instead of talking about the current situation, the government started comparing the figures of the Congress tenure (about various crimes) and a lot of lies were presented in that too," he said.

Hooda said that before the Congress government was formed in 2005, "the situation was so bad in the INLD-BJP rule that FIRs were not registered even in serious cases".

"As soon as the Congress came to power, it improved the law and order. Clear instructions were given to the police that FIRs will be registered in every case and after that the Congress started a mission to eliminate crime from Haryana, which was successful," he said.

Hooda claimed that the Congress had completely eliminated organised crime, reined in gangsters and the mafia.

"But under the BJP government, organised crime has crossed all limits. Many gangs have been formed in the state, the mafia is spreading its tentacles, people are being threatened, ransom is being demanded, firing is taking place at people's homes after threats which are given openly on social media and after committing the crime and the criminals are even taking responsibility for it," he said.

"The miscreants are so fearless that they are uploading videos of themselves committing the crime. Many businessmen and even few MLAs and leaders have earlier got threats from the miscreants. This is called organised crime," he said. PTI SUN KSS KSS