Fear of washout in assembly poll behind BJP govt’s free plot-allotment drive, says Hooda
CHANDIGARH: Former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Tuesday lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the state for keeping lakhs of poor beneficiaries deprived of residential plots for over nine years of its rule.
Taking a swipe at the BJP, the leader of the Opposition at a briefing said the fear of a complete washout in the assembly elections after its defeat in the Lok Sabha polls has made the BJP recall the free plots scheme of 100 sq. yards, started during the Congress government.
“The scheme was started during the Congress rule and free plots of 100 sq yards were distributed to about four lakh poor, Scheduled Caste (SC) and Backward Caste (BC) families,” Hooda said.
The former CM said that the Congress had planned to give these plots to more than seven lakh families in Haryana. “But the BJP stopped the scheme as soon as it came to power. Due to this, beneficiaries could not get possession of the plots allotted during the Congress rule. For the last 10 years, the BJP kept the beneficiaries deprived of the plots. By stopping this scheme, the BJP snatched the right of 100 square yards plots from more than 3 lakh families. The BJP should apologise to all the poor, SC and BC families for this,” he said. The former CM said that this scheme will be restarted when Congress forms the government in the state. The beneficiary families will be given a two-room permanent house on a 100-yard plot, he maintained.
Hooda said that for 10 years, the BJP has run a government of police, propaganda and portal in Haryana. “Through the police, this government lathi-charged and fired bullets on farmers. They were even called terrorists. Using the police, elected panches and sarpanches, and employees, who were demanding old pension scheme, were assaulted,” he said. Hooda said the vote percentage of Congress in Haryana has shown a significant increase in the Lok Sabha elections. “In comparison to all the states, INDIA bloc has got the highest 47.6% votes in Haryana. Compared to the last Lok Sabha elections, the votes of the Congress alliance have increased by about 20% while the votes of BJP have decreased by 12%. Congress has taken the lead in 42 assembly segments,” he said.
Hooda said that the public is eagerly waiting for the assembly elections so that BJP can be ousted, and a Congress government can be formed.
The former CM said that BJP has eliminated permanent jobs and reservation for SCs and BCs. “This is the reason why permanent recruitments are not being done for the two lakh vacant posts,” he said. “The BJP government reduced the creamy layer limit of backward classes from an annual income of Rs 8 to Rs 6 lakh, leading to an end of reservation for lakhs of BC families. The Congress government will increase the creamy layer limit to Rs 10 lakh per annum so that backward classes can get the benefit of reservation,” he said.