The Haryana Assembly today witnessed sharp exchanges between Congress leader Kuldeep Sharma and Agriculture Minister O P Dhankar on farmers' issues, with the opposition leader alleging that the BJP government had taken the peasants for a ride. Taking part in the debate on the Governor's Address in the state assembly here, Sharma said the BJP government had only made tall promises to them. "Take the plight of sugarcane farmers from Haryana, many are being forced to sell their produce in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh at cheaper price as the government in their own state has let them down," Sharma, a former Speaker, claimed. Earlier in the day, Congress legislators including Sharma, held a brief protest near the Assembly complex by holding sugarcane plants in their hands to highlight the plight of cane farmers. Inside the Assembly, Agriculture Minister O P Dhankar hit back at Sharma and claimed that the opposition leader was trying to create a non-existent issue. Kuldeep Sharma and Dhankar had heated exchange on sugarcane farmers issue. Sharma wondered that how the BJP government which had not implemented its poll promise of implementing the Swaminathan Commission report for farmers was going to double the income of the peasants by 2022. Dhankar hit back, saying Congress was "anti-farmer party" and added it was the BJP government which had made the provision so that peasants could earn profit after meeting input costs. "We have moved beyond Minimum Support Price," Dhankar said. Sharma also took a dig at the state government over its 'Mhara Gaon-Jagmag Gaon' scheme, claiming villages were not getting power for more than eight hours as against promised round-the-clock supply. Sharma also slammed the BJP government on various other issues. On the law and order front, he alleged incidents of loot, rapes and dacoity have increased. "Everyone saw how Panchkula burned in August last year (during Dera issue violence) as administration allowed thousands of people to gather...this government only preaches 'Haryana Ek Haryanvi Ek', but in reality the state's brotherhood was spoiled because of the policies they are pursuing," he alleged. He also claimed that the government is making hollow claims on having reined in corruption "whereas the truth is that it is still rampant in various spheres". "Regional Transport Offices have become dens of corruption," Sharma alleged. Another senior Congress leader Karan Singh Dalal also took part in the debate on the Governor's Address. The legislator from Palwal sought setting up of a Tribunal to decide the share of water between Haryana and Uttar Pradesh from the Agra canal. He expressed concern over water table going down at alarming level in Faridabad and Palwal and asked the government to take the required steps in this regard. Dalal claimed that the water table had fallen to alarming levels in 37 Blocks across Haryana He suggested that government should encourage more and more farmers to opt for crop diversification and help them come out of water-guzzling wheat-paddy crop cycle. Bahujan Samaj Party's lone MLA in the 90-member Assembly, Tek Chand Sharma, heaped praise on the Khattar government, saying it had undertaken development projects in various spheres and reined-in corruption and put an end to favouritism in jobs. Haryana BJP President Subhash Barala highlighted various initiatives of the Khattar government taken for welfare of various sections of the society.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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