Chandigarh, Dec 20: The Congress’ no-confidence motion against the Nayab Singh Saini-led Haryana government fell in the Assembly on Friday through a voice vote after Opposition members walked out of the House.
Replying to the debate, Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini said the motion had been drafted in haste and stemmed from the Opposition’s disappointment and desperation. Rejecting the Congress’ charge of “tunnel vision”, he said the government’s vision was firmly aligned with the goals of ‘Viksit Bharat 2047’ and the principle of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas; Sabka Vishwas, Sabka Prayas’.
Referring to infrastructure development, Saini cited road projects executed across the country over the past 11 years under the Modi government. Quoting Rabindranath Tagore, he said his vision of a ‘Viksit Haryana’ was one “where the mind is without fear and the head is held high”.
On allegations of “vote chori”, the chief minister said the Congress had itself won elections in the booths cited by Rahul Gandhi. He also rejected claims of rising crime, asserting that Haryana had zero tolerance towards criminals.
Saini claimed that murders had declined by 12.75 per cent and robbery by 49.71 per cent, while 7,587 criminals had been arrested and 322 illegal weapons recovered under Operation Trackdown. He said another 2,200 criminals were arrested under Operation Hotspot Domination. In contrast, he alleged that crime rates had risen sharply during the Congress regime between 2004 and 2014.
On unemployment, citing an RBI report, Saini said Haryana’s unemployment rate stood at 3.8 per cent, lower than Punjab and Himachal Pradesh. On employment generation, he claimed BJP governments had provided nearly two lakh jobs, compared to 86,000 during Congress rule.
Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda and other Congress members accused the chief minister of avoiding state-specific issues and raised concerns over ration card cuts, crime, unemployment and inequality. Congress MLAs also alleged rampant corruption, growing gang activity, illegal migration of youth, poor sports infrastructure and lapses during the 2016 Jat reservation agitation.
The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) MLAs did not support the no-confidence motion and instead targeted the Congress leadership during the debate.
Meanwhile, Congress leader and MP Randeep Singh Surjewala said the rejection of the Enforcement Directorate’s case in the National Herald matter was a blow to what he described as the BJP’s “politics of revenge”.
Addressing the media, Surjewala alleged that the case against Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi was politically motivated. He said courts had questioned the ED for initiating a money-laundering probe after earlier declining to act.
He also pointed out that the CBI had refused to register an FIR in the case in 2014 and again in 2015 due to jurisdictional issues, alleging that the BJP was weaponising investigative agencies to target the Congress leadership.
