Sushil Manav
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, March 16
An acrimonious debate was witnessed during a discussion on the Budget in the Haryana Legislative Assembly here today. Congress MLAs described the Budget as directionless, and raised the issues of protesting farmers and the SYL canal etc while the BJP again accused the Opposition of instigating farmers.
BJP MLA from Nangal Chaudhary Abhe Singh Yadav's remarks that though farmers were agitating in other states, too, in Haryana, the situation was different "because some sections of society have a propensity to indulge in disruptive activities" triggered an acrimonious debate with the Congress MLAs accusing him of singling out a particular caste.
Congress MLAs Kiran Choudhry, Raghubir Singh Kadian and others alleged that Yadav was trying to malign the image of a particular caste and divide society. Yadav vehemently denied the charge that he had made caste-based remarks.
An angry exchange of words between the treasury and opposition benches was witnessed again when Induraj Narwal, Congress MLA from Baroda, referred to the lack of drinking water and toilet facilities for farmers sitting on dharna at the Tikri border, prompting Parliamentary Affairs Minister Krishan Pal Gujjar to accuse the Opposition of instigating farmers.
Leader of the Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda said that no one from his party was instigating farmers.
He had already said that no one has the right to take law into one's hands and it was for the government to deal with law and order issues, he added. Hooda accused the government of being insensitive and said that over 300 farmers had died during the protests, but not a word of sympathy had come from those in power. Responding to Gujjar's statement, Choudhry said the boycott of BJP and JJP legislators was a manifestation of people's anger against the state government.
The discussion on the Budget also saw a debate on the SYL canal when Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala said that the Congress' manifesto in Punjab clearly stated that the canal would never be built. Upon this, Kiran Choudhry said that the SYL canal had been delayed due to the lackadaisical attitude of the government as the Chief Minister could not even arrange a meeting with the Prime Minister after a decision was taken in the all-party meeting.
Power Minister Ranjit Singh said that while most of the work on the SYL canal was done when his father Chaudhary Devi Lal was the Chief Minister, the work stopped once the Congress government led by Bhajan Lal took charge.
Upon this, Hooda said the latest impediment to the project came when Punjab abrogated accords. He added the ball was now in the Central Government's court as it was to build the canal.
Congress MLA Geeta Bhukkal described the Budget as directionless and hopeless. Rewari MLA Chiranjeev Rao said the Budget was poor, as it included a debt of Rs 2 lakh crore.
The Trigger
Farmers are agitating in other states also, but the situation in Haryana is different because some sections of society have a propensity to indulge in disruptive activities. — Abhe Singh Yadav, BJP MLA
The response
- The BJP MLA's remarks triggered a debate; Congress accused him of singling out a particular caste
- Abhe Singh Yadav vehemently denied the charge that he had made caste-based remarks
Row over canal
- Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala said the Congress' manifesto in Punjab stated the SYL canal would never be built
- At this, Congress' Kiran Choudhry said the canal had been delayed due to the lackadaisical attitude of the government as the CM could not even arrange a meeting with the PM
from The Tribune https://ift.tt/2OY00nm
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