One Haryana ex-CM in jail, another set to go: Manohar Lal Khattar

Chandigarh: One former Haryana chief minister was cooling his heels in jail, while another is set to land in prison, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Sunday said, in a veiled attack on his predecessor Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

Khattar made the remark during a function organised to mark the Maharana Pratap Jayanti at Safidon in Jind district, according to an official release.

"While one former chief minister (Om Prakash Chautala) is cooling his heels in jail (in the teachers recruitment scam), another ex-chief minister is set to go to jail," he said, without naming Congress leader Hooda.

On Saturday also, while speaking at a function in Chandigarh, Khattar had trained guns on Hooda over various alleged scams that took place during the Congress tenure and have been unearthed now.

"Some scams committed during the Congress regime are now coming to light through the Supreme Court and the high court," he had claimed.

The Chief Minister on Sunday said that since the inception of Haryana, various governments were formed in the state but none could claim that they stayed away from corruption.

"In sharp contrast, during the three-and-a-half years of the present government, there have been no allegations of any scandals against any minister or MLA... I can say confidently that the present government has uplifted the living standards of the people and made efforts to change the direction of the society for the better," he said.

Later interacting with the villagers of Munak in Karnal district, Khattar said the responsibility for implementing the Swaminathan Commission report rested with former Chief Minister Hooda, who was then chairman of the working group of Chief Ministers on agriculture production, set up on agriculture.

"But he (Hooda) did not do anything during his time and kept pretending to be a leader of the farmers," Khattar said, adding his government has worked for the farmers during the last three-and-a-half years.

"The self proclaimed farmers leader never thought of doubling the income of farmers. On the other hand, we have implemented Bhwantar Yojana to save the farmers from damage to their crops, and told them 'ghaata sarkar ka, fayda kisan ka' (under the scheme all loss would be borne by the state, and all profit will rest with farmers)," he added.

He said the state government would complete all development works which had been announced. The money provided for the works should be spent appropriately and with caution, he said, warning strict action over misuse of funds.