Congress is spreading lies, 'misleading' farmers: Haryana CM M L Khattar

Haryana Chief Minister M L Khattar on Tuesday launched a scathing attack on the Congress over its criticism of the recent farm sector laws, and said the opposition party raises a hue and cry whenever the government takes any major decision.

He said the Congress is "misleading" farmers by telling them that the new laws will "ruin" them, lead to dismantling of mandis and the minimum support price (MSP) system, and will help big corporate houses "exploit" them.

"Chaudhary Devi Lal used to say it is difficult sometimes to make farmers understand, but easy to mislead them," the chief minister said referring to his deputy Dushyant Chautala's great grandfather and former deputy prime minister.

The Congress is repeatedly spreading "lies" and is in the habit of raising a hue and cry whenever the government takes any major decision, be it the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution or the Ram temple construction in Ayodhya.

Addressing a state-level function in Hisar to mark the completion of the BJP-JJP government's one year in office, Khattar also condemned the burning of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's effigies on the occasion of Dussehra by some farmer leaders in Haryana and asked should a "Ram bhakt" PM be equated with demon king Ravana.

Khattar, along with his deputy and JJP leader Dushyant Chautala, performed the ground-breaking ceremony for the extension of Hisar airport runway from 1,200 metres to 3,000 metres at a cost of Rs 165 crore.

In addition to the runway extension project, events were held for laying foundation or inauguration of 306 projects worth Rs 1,688 crore across the state, he said.

He said the coalition government is taking Haryana ahead on a new growth trajectory, but the opposition Congress was repeatedly spreading "lies".

"Whenever any major decision is taken by our government, they create a hue and cry," he said.

The Congress created a hue and cry when Article 370 was scrapped and claimed that it would lead to bloodbath in Kashmir Valley. "Has anything happened in Kashmir for one year?" he asked.

He said that on the Ram temple issue too the Congress raised a hue and cry and said that riots will break out in the country. On the Citizenship Amendment Act also, they made a lot of noise, the chief minister said.

"When the Congress-led UPA was in power they did not dare to act against Pakistan for their misadventures for the fear that they were a nuclear weapon armed nation, but it was the Modi government which dared to carry out surgical strike, air strike to teach them a lesson," Khattar said.

"After 1962, the Congress did not have the courage to raise voice against China, but China today finds itself isolated in the world and the entire world is supporting us...,” he said.

He said the opposition should not do politics on every issue and added that such things create obstacles in the development of the state.

On the burning of PM Modi's effigies by a group of farmers led by BKU state unit chief Gurnam Singh, Khattar said limits were crossed when "they say that like on Dussehra effigies of demon king Ravana are burnt, they will burn effigies of the Prime Minister".