Haryana: Verbal duel between Cong, BJP in Assembly over law and order; Cong walks out

The opposition Congress and the ruling BJP had a verbal duel in the Haryana Assembly on Tuesday over the law and order issue, with the Nayab Saini government countering the grand old party which claimed that the crime graph has increased.

The Congress members alleged that the law and order situation has deteriorated in Haryana under the BJP rule, alleging that there has been a spurt in several crimes.

However, the BJP benches countered their claims, with Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mahipal Dhanda giving figures to claim there has been a decline in heinous crimes like murders.

Saini repeatedly took on former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda to say that his government had not acted the way it should have to rein in those behind heinous crimes like rapes when the Congress was in power.

The chief minister said the opposition is saying criminals have no fear of the law.

Saini retorted by reciting some lines in a poetic but sarcastic way, prompting immediate reaction from Hooda.

''I have been an MP and an MLA multiple times, but I haven't seen this kind of attitude where we are insulted like this,'' said Hooda.

After this, Hooda, accompanied by his party MLAs, staged a walkout and the chief minister continued to speak on the law and order matter.

Saini, while commenting on the Congress' walkout, said, ''They cannot listen to the truth, strange is their situation.'' Earlier, during his speech, Saini said, ''Our government considers maintaining law and order as the top priority. Our policy is zero tolerance towards crime, backed by full operational freedom to the police for swift, lawful and effective action,'' Saini said.

He said during the Congress' time, the hands of police were tied. But now free registration of FIRs, prompt investigations, swift arrests and timely filing of chargesheets ensure that justice is delivered without delay, he said.

''Our uncompromising motto stands: no innocent will be harassed and no criminal will be spared,'' Saini said.

Speaker Harvinder Kalyan had on Friday accepted the Opposition's adjournment motion demanding discussion on the law and order issue. The House had on Friday witnessed stormy scenes and six adjournments when Congress MLAs raised slogans demanding a discussion on the topic. Later, the Speaker accepted the motion and reserved discussion on it on Tuesday, when the law and order issue saw a lengthy debate for nearly four hours, during which Congress trained guns on the BJP dispensation.

Congress' Geeta Bhukkal said Haryana was known as a progressive state, but the law and order had deteriorated under the BJP rule. Any state's progress depends on how good its law and order is, she said.

Bhukkal alleged that incidents of rape, murder, ransom, extortion and shootouts have become rampant. ''People are feeling insecure and ransoms are being demanded by criminals from inside jails. People are living in the shadow of fear. This is worrisome,'' she alleged.

She claimed that the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) figures show that the overall crime rate in Haryana is higher and crime against women and children is also higher.

Bhukkal and other Congress MLAs cited many recent incidents of various crimes to claim that the crime graph has increased.

''A liquor contractor was shot dead in Kurukshetra. Congress' Himani Narwal was murdered earlier this year, INLD state president (Nafe Singh Rathee) was killed in 2024, recently INLD chief Abhay Singh Chautala has also received a threat (from an unknown person). Our party MLA Jassi Petwar also received a threat. Criminals are calling shots,'' she alleged.

Chief Minister Saini, however, said crime has declined substantially from 2014 to 2024.

Murders fell 12.75 per cent, dacoities 49.41 per cent, robberies 10.52 per cent and riots 20.78 per cent, despite a 13.76 per cent rise in population, the CM said.

In stark contrast, during 2004-2014, these very heads had surged by 50.88 per cent, 230.76 per cent, 258.2 per cent and 178 per cent respectively, he said, while adding that the BJP government reversed that trend through relentless enforcement and accountability.

In 2004, the number of rape cases in Haryana was 386, which rose to 1,174 in 2014. There was a threefold increase.

''But see the insensitivity, that the Congress government then opened only one women's police station,'' said Saini.

''Sometimes, I think why Hooda did not act the way his government should have when there was a three-fold increase in rape cases. I don't know what pressure was there,'' Saini said.

''But now we have bent the curve on crime through uncompromising enforcement, technology-driven investigation, inter-state and international coordination and measurable outcomes,'' he said.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)