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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38.23% voter turnout during the first half of the day in 14 LS segments in Karnataka
Bengaluru (PTI): An estimated 38.23 per cent turnout was reported during the first half of the day in Karnataka, where the first phase of Lok Sabha polls in 14 of 28 constituencies is underway on Friday.
According to election officials, 38.23 per cent of the electorate in Karnataka had cast their vote till 1 PM. Voting began at 7.00 am and will end by 6.00 pm.
Out of 14 segments that are going to the polls today, the highest turnout of 48.10 per cent was recorded in Dakshina Kannada, followed by Udupi-Chikmagalur 46.43 per cent, and the least 30.10 per cent in Bangalore Central.
The turnout was 31.51 per cent in Bangalore South, and 32.25 per cent in Bangalore North.
In the first phase, the Congress is contesting in all 14 seats, BJP has fielded nominees in 11 and its alliance partner JD(S), which joined the National Democratic Alliance in (NDA) in September last year, in three -- Hassan, Mandya and Kolar.
Besides those three, the segments where elections are being held on Friday are Udupi-Chikmagalur, Dakshina Kannada, Chitradurga, Tumkur, Mysore, Chamarajanagar, Bangalore Rural, Bangalore North, Bangalore Central, Bangalore South and Chikkaballapur.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the Congress and JD(S), which were in alliance and in power in the state back then, had secured just one seat each in these 14 segments. The BJP had won in 11 and ensured the victory of a party supported independent candidate in Mandya.
On Friday, Deputy Chief Minister and state Congress President D K Shivakumar along with his family cast his vote at Doddalahalli in Kanakapura of Ramanagara district. Mandya MP Sumalatha Ambareesh also cast her vote.
Cricketing legend Anil Kumble, Ayodhya Ram Mandir's Ram lalla sculptor Arun Yogiraj and former Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hegde were among prominent persons who cast their votes during the day, along with IT industry veterans Kris Gopalakrishnan and Mohandas Pai.
Biotechnology veteran Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw of Biocon, after casting her vote, in a post on social media platform X said, "As a responsible citizen of our great country, I have cast my vote. Jai hind"
Film stars Upendra, Shivarajkumar and Sudeep too exercised their franchise during the first half of the day.
