Chandigarh: Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini on Friday took a swipe at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his debate challenge, inviting him to Haryana to face questions from the BJP Yuva Morcha president. Offering to arrange the venue himself, the Chief Minister said Gandhi could not expect to make what he described as false allegations without facing questions in return. It cannot be a one-sided affair where someone makes false claims and then walks away, he remarked.
The Chief Minister said that if the Congress had any grievances regarding the electoral process, it should present its case before the Chief Election Commissioner. The Election Commission is an independent institution, and the doors of the courts are also open. He questioned why the Congress is unwilling to approach these forums, saying that merely making allegations from home for public consumption would serve no purpose.
Launching a sharp attack on the Congress, the Chief Minister said the party had no substantive issue to take to the people and is therefore attempting to mislead the country in the name of “vote theft” while casting doubts on the credibility of democracy and the Election Commission.
Despite these provisions, he said, the Congress continued to mislead the public. He said people were watching these developments closely and would no longer be swayed by such claims. There has been no vote theft. What the Congress is facing today is the consequence of its own actions. People are now even saying that the Congress should shut down the party, he remarked.
The Chief Minister said the Haryana Government had taken concrete steps to fulfil its commitments to women. The government had decided to provide LPG cylinders at Rs 500 to families with an annual income of up to Rs 1.80 lakh. He said his government did not merely make announcements but ensured their implementation on the ground.
