Chandigarh, March 18 Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini on Wednesday launched a scathing attack on the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), saying the opposition party worked to strengthen the Congress by abstaining from voting in the Rajya Sabha election, which was held for two seats in the state.
Saini was speaking to reporters here this evening after the conclusion of the budget session of the Haryana Assembly.
"The INLD did not merely act to benefit the Congress; rather, with the specific aim of strengthening the Congress, the INLD put its everything at stake – going so far as to abstain from voting," he said.
The chief minister was asked to comment on the INLD's reported assurance to one of the three Independent MLAs that the party would support Satish Nandal, an Independent candidate in the Rajya Sabha election.
"If they (INLD) had given assurance, they should have voted," Saini said.
The INLD, which has two members in the 90-member Haryana Assembly, had abstained from voting, with party leaders Abhay Singh Chautala and Aditya Devi Lal on Monday saying they had decided to make this decision keeping in view the people's sentiments.
BJP's Sanjay Bhatia and Karamvir Singh Boudh of the Congress were elected to the Rajya Sabha from Haryana. It was a narrow win for Boudh over Independent candidate Nandal (63), as cross-voting dented the otherwise comfortable position of the Congress for securing an easy victory.
The Congress on Tuesday had accused the BJP of indulging in "vote chori" in the Rajya Sabha polls in Haryana.
Asked about five Congress MLAs allegedly cross-voting in the RS polls, Saini said, "I don't know what is cooking in the Congress."
"But what I know is that for the first time I have seen a party affairs in-charge (Congress general secretary in-charge of Haryana B K Hariprasad) and ex-CM (Bhupinder Hooda) became polling agents in the RS polls," he said.
On the Congress raising question on Nandal, who is Haryana BJP's vice president, for entering the fray as the third candidate in the RS polls for two seats, Saini said, "On the floor of the Assembly, the Congress said what was the need for the third candidate. We did not field a third candidate (Nandal). He entered the contest as an Independent. Does an Independent not have a right to contest?"
To another question, he said the Congress has become very weak.
"And the reason for that is the wrong policies of the Congress. They have lost the trust of the public," he said.
Saini said during the Assembly session, when the Congress raises any issue and the government starts to give its reply, instead of listening to that they just run away from the House.
On the Congress' criticism to the state budget which carries a vision for a developed Haryana, Saini said, "The Congress is in deep despair, it is utterly despondent".