Haryana polls: Congress means ‘kushasan’, corruption, says Nadda

PTI Chandigarh: Launching a vitriolic attack on the main opposition party, BJP national president and Union Minister J P Nadda on Sunday alleged the Congress means ‘kushasan’ (misgovernance), corruption and criminalisation as he urged the voters to bloom the ‘lotus’ for a third time in Haryana. Nadda also pointed towards Congress-ruled Himachal Pradesh, targeting the grand old party for not keeping its poll promises despite being in power there for two years. He was holding a poll rally in Haryana’s Rohtak.

Lashing out at the previous Congress regime in Haryana, the BJP president alleged that there were land scams and poor farmers’ lands were usurped. Slamming the previous regime for corruption in government jobs, he alleged that jobs were given with ‘kharchi-parchi’ (bribe and favouritism) system and the promising youths used to stand in a queue of unemployment. “Which scam did the Congress not commit? There was a coal scam, submarine scam, rice scam, tank scam, helicopter scam, 2-G, 3-5 scam. These Congressmen left neither the earth nor the water nor the sky in committing corruption,” said Nadda. “Do you want those days back”, he asked the gathering. “On one side is the ‘ghotalon ki sarkar’ (previous Congress government of scams), ‘ghotala pe ghotala’ (scam after scam). Congress means ‘kushasan’ (misgovernance), Congress means corruption, Congress means criminalization.

Congress means pitting brother against brother, caste against caste. It is the ‘dharam’ of the Congress to do vote bank politics. It is the Congress way of doing work,” said the Union minister. On the other side is the “double engine” government -- Central government under the leadership of Narendra Modi and the state government here, he said. Nadda said on one side, there were people who want to do ‘parivarvad’, who want to indulge in land scams while on the other side is the BJP which is committed to development. Accusing the Congress of having “failed” to keep its poll promises after coming to power, Nadda said, “ ‘Kaath ki handi baar baar nahin chadti (One can deceive a person once but not always). They had promised Rs 1,500 to women every month.” Nadda said the women in Himachal Pradesh have been waiting for Rs 1,500 for the last two years. “The state (HP) exchequer is empty.

Employees are not getting salaries on time. They are not getting DA,” he added. Escalating his attack, the BJP president alleged that no development took place in Congress-ruled Karnataka. He also raised the issue of the Karnataka chief minister facing land scam accusations. “Congress party’s record is of corruption,” he alleged. Nadda alleged, “The exercise of the Congress to bring its government is only an ATM. To take out money from here and give it to the ‘shahi parivar’ in Delhi.” Taking on Rahul Gandhi over his remarks on reservation made in the US, Nadda said the Leader of Opposition said that they will end reservation. “I want to say that there was reservation, there is reservation and there will always be reservation,” he said. Nadda said the economies of the US, Australia, China and Japan were facing challenges while India is forging ahead as a bright spot under the leadership of Modi. India was called a corrupt country ten years back, said Nadda adding, but under Modi’s leadership, the country scaled from 11 position to the fifth spot in terms of economy. India will become the third economic power in the world, he added. Speaking about the 10-year rule of his party in Haryana, Nadda said the per capita income of the state which is Rs 3.25 lakh is highest in the country. A sum of Rs 12,500 crore was given as crop compensation in state, he said.