Kiran, Dalal spar over Bhiwani water, farm laws

Chandigarh: Former Congress minister Kiran Choudhry and Haryana agriculture minister

J P Dalal

had a heated debate over Bhiwani’s falling groundwater levels and water share, and the Centre’s farm laws during Tuesday’s sitting of the assembly’s budget session.

The argument started when Choudhary took up these issues during the discussion on the governor’s address and Dalal accused her of ignoring the Bhiwani district during her 10 years as minister. He said: “She neither raised the water-level issue then nor Bhiwani district got its water share.”

Choudhary questioned Dalal on the lathi charge against farmers, him comments on farmers, and his stand on their agitation. Education minister Kanwar Pal Gujjar and Congress legislature party leader Bhupinder Hooda also chipped in. Hooda asked Dalal to stick to the reply, while Gujjar asked Choudhary to show any instance of a lathi charge on the farmers.

The discussion had begun with Ambala City MLA Assem Goel’s praising the governor’s address and the state’s response to Covid-19. When the Congress benches asked him to tell the House why the farmers were on protest, he said there was a land scam involving Robert Vadra. This brought the Congress MLAs into the well of the house.

MLAs taken on own govt

In an embarrassment for the BJP-JJP alliance, JJP MLAs Jogi Ram Sihag and Ram Kumar Gautam criticised their own the government over the agri-marketing laws. Ram Kumar Gautam supported the farmers but insisted on suspending the laws for more than three years. He suggested the Haryana government and all the legislators to a pass resolution against these laws and sent it on to the Union government.

Sihag maintained his stand of supporting the farmers and asked the government to come out with ways to resolve the issue so that they farmers could end their agitation. He welcomed the 75% job reservation for the state’s youth and asked the Haryana government to bring an MSP law of its own. The others who spoke on the governor’s address included Balraj Kundu, former speaker Raghubir Singh Kadian, and Congress chief whip B B Batra.