Congress raises a hue and cry whenever govt takes any major decision: Khattar
Chandigarh: Haryana Chief Minister M L Khattar on Tuesday launched a scathing attack on the Congress over its criticism of the recent farm sector laws and said the opposition party raises a hue and cry whenever the government takes any major decision.
On the occasion of completion of one year of the BJP-JJP coalition in office, Khattar and his Deputy Dushyant Chautala said the ruling combine is committed to taking the state on a higher growth trajectory.
Speaking at a state-level event in Hisar to mark the occasion, the chief minister said they provided "corruption-free, transparent and an accountable government to the people of the state".
Over the next four years the government is committed to taking the state "on a higher growth trajectory", Khattar told reporters at Hisar.
He also said the Congress is "misleading" farmers by telling them that the new laws will "ruin" them, lead to the dismantling of mandis and the minimum support price (MSP) system, and will help big corporate houses "exploit" them.
"Chaudhary Devi Lal used to say it is difficult sometimes to make farmers understand, but easy to mislead them," Khattar said referring to his deputy Chautala's great grandfather and former deputy prime minister.
The Congress is repeatedly spreading "lies" and is in the habit of raising a hue and cry whenever the government takes any major decision, be it the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution or the Ram temple construction in Ayodhya, he said.
In his address to the gathering, Dushyant Chautala, a JJP leader, said, "A year ago, the opposition used to say this government will not complete three months, then they used to say it will fall after six months, but now we have completed one year. "
"Over the next four years, our government will take Haryana on a higher growth trajectory. "
Khattar said during the first term of the BJP-led government in the state and now during the past one year of the coalition government jobs have been given on merit.
"We will give 1 lakh jobs in five years. During the past year, we have already given 10,000 jobs," he said, adding that the government is committed to reserving 75 percent jobs in the private industry for Haryana youths.
The chief minister took a dig at the Congress, saying only father-son (former chief minister B S Hooda and his MP-son Deepender Hooda) were campaigning for party candidate Induraj Narwal in Baroda.
"No other Congress leader is ready to go there," he said, adding that the opposition party knows their candidate will meet the same fate as seen in the Jind bypolls in January 2019.
"The Congress had fielded a big leader in Jind (Randeep Singh Surjewala), but he had to face a humiliating defeat. He not only lost in Jind, but in the 2019 assembly polls he lost his Kaithal seat too and now is campaigning in Bihar," Khattar said.
"Whenever any major decision is taken by our government, they create a hue and cry," he said.
The Congress created a hue and cry when Article 370 was scrapped and claimed that it would lead to a bloodbath in the Kashmir Valley. "Has anything happened in Kashmir for one year?" he asked.
He said that on the Ram temple issue too, the Congress raised a hue and cry and said that riots will break out in the country. On the Citizenship Amendment Act also, they made a lot of noise, the chief minister said.
"When the Congress-led UPA was in power they did not dare to act against Pakistan for their misadventures for the fear that they were a nuclear weapon armed nation, but it was the Modi government which dared to carry out a surgical strike, air strike to teach them a lesson," Khattar said.
"After 1962, the Congress did not have the courage to raise voice against China, but China today finds itself isolated in the world and the entire world is supporting us...," he said.
He also said despite the challenges posed by COVID-19, Haryana was comparatively better off than many other states.
With the state government laying a lot of emphasis on digitalization, he said this had helped during the pandemic situation to extend relief to various sections who were adversely hit.
He also condemned the burning of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's effigies on the occasion of Dussehra by some farmer leaders in Haryana and asked should a "Ram bhakt" PM be equated with the demon king Ravana.
Khattar, who had also tested positive for COVID-19 in August and later recovered from it, appealed to people not to lower their guard even if the recovery rate was quite high.
On the Baroda bypolls on November 3, which were necessitated due to the demise of Congress MLA Shri Krishan Hooda in April, he said wrestler-turned-politician Yogeshwar Dutt, a JJP-backed BJP candidate, will win comfortably.
Earlier, Khattar, along with his deputy, performed the ground-breaking ceremony for the extension of Hisar airport runway from 1,200 meters to 3,000 meters at a cost of Rs 165 crore.
He said the development of the Integrated Aviation Hub at Hisar is a mega project of the state government to elevate one of its oldest airstrips as an airport of international standards.
Khattar took oath as Haryana chief minister for the second time on October 27 last year with JJP leader Dushyant Chautala as his deputy.
The Jannayak Janata Party (JJP), which won 10 seats in the 90-member Assembly after last year's elections in the state, had extended support to the BJP which fell short of the majority winning 40 seats.
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BJP, TMC hail SC directions on counting of votes for West Bengal polls
Kolkata (PTI): The BJP and TMC on Saturday both hailed the SC directions on the Election Commission's circular over the deployment of central government personnel for vote counting in West Bengal.
The apex court on Saturday said no further order was necessary on the TMC's plea challenging the Calcutta High Court's dismissal of its petition against the April 13 circular.
In a social media post, BJP leader Amit Malviya said, "In yet another legal setback, the Supreme Court has refused to intervene. The Trinamool Congress had approached the court challenging the exclusion of state government employees from vote-counting supervisor duties, and had sought an urgent hearing."
"The refusal to entertain this plea underscores a clear message -- attempts to influence or cast doubt over the integrity of the counting process will not find easy validation. Another day, another judicial rebuff for Mamata Banerjee," he added.
The TMC, however, claimed that the SC directions vindicated its stand.
"The issue raised before the Hon'ble Supreme Court pertained to the implementation of the said communication in a manner whereby only Central Government/Central PSU employees were being appointed as Counting Supervisors and Counting Assistants for counting of votes," the party said in a statement.
The TMC said it was highlighted that such an interpretation and implementation of the communication would be contrary to the framework of a fair and balanced counting process.
"After hearing the parties, the Hon'ble Supreme Court directed that Clause 1 of the communication dated 13.04.2026, relating to the appointment of Counting Supervisors and Counting Assistants, must be read along with the salient feature contained in the second page of the said communication, which provides for random selection of both State Government and Central Government employees," it said.
"The Hon'ble Supreme Court has further recorded the undertaking of Mr Dama Seshadri Naidu, learned Senior Advocate appearing for the Election Commission of India that the said communication shall be followed in its letter and spirit," it added.
The TMC said that in view of the directions, it is expected that the counting of votes shall be conducted in a fair, transparent, and balanced manner.
A special bench of Justices P S Narasimha and Joymalya Bagchi said the EC can choose the counting personnel, and its April 13 circular, which provides for deployment of state government employees as well, cannot be said to be incorrect.
The poll body said the apprehensions of TMC of any wrongdoing are misplaced, as the circular very clearly states that there will be a mix of central and state government employees.
The EC assured the court that the circular would be implemented in letter and spirit, and there would be state government employees also during the counting of votes on May 4.
Polling for the 294-member West Bengal assembly was held in two phases -- April 23 and April 29. The counting of votes will be taken up on May 4.
On April 30, the Calcutta High Court dismissed the TMC's petition against the Election Commission circular, saying there was no illegality in the poll panel's decision to appoint counting supervisors and assistants from Central government and Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) employees, instead of the state government staff.
