Haryana Assembly a 'market', democracy 'strangled': Cong walkout

Congress legislators walked out of the Haryana Assembly, alleging democratic values were undermined. MLA Geeta Bhukkal claimed the House became a 'market' for buying and selling MLAs, calling it a grave threat to democratic principles.

Congress Alleges 'Market' for MLAs, Boycotts Assembly

Congress legislators staged a walkout from the Haryana Assembly on Tuesday, alleging that democratic values were being undermined, with party MLA Geeta Bhukkal claiming that the House had turned into a "market where things are bought and sold."

Speaking after the walkout, Bhukkal alleged that ministers had openly admitted to purchasing MLAs, raising serious concerns over the integrity of the legislative process. "Ministers openly admitted that we have bought your MLAs. This has become a market where things are bought and sold," she said. The Congress leader further alleged that the Constitution was being "strangled," and termed the situation as a grave threat to democratic principles. "The Constitution has been strangled, and that is why we are boycotting," she added, justifying the opposition party's decision to walk out of the Assembly proceedings.

Blame Game Erupts Over Rajya Sabha Polls

The walkout comes amid heightened political tensions in Haryana, with the opposition accusing the ruling dispensation of resorting to unethical practices to maintain its strength in the House. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress have each won seats in the Haryana Rajya Sabha elections. Congress leaders said they won despite the BJP trying to "buy" votes, while the BJP winner, Sanjay Bhatia, said the Congress is just upset because their own people didn't vote for them. Amid celebrations in both camps, leaders traded accusations, with the Congress blaming the BJP for unethical tactics and the BJP questioning the opposition's ability to keep its legislators together.

BJP winning candidate Sanjay Bhatia, while speaking to ANI, said, "Congress's responsibility was to unite its workers and MLAs, now they are putting allegations on us for the cross-votes of their own workers, which is not right... I have been born and brought up in Haryana and my priority will be the issues of the people here... Congress got 28 votes, the independent received 16 votes with first preference and BJP received 39 first preference votes."

On the other hand, Congress MLA Geeta Bhukkal, while speaking to ANI, said, "We won the fight we had been fighting for a long time. The way a procession of constitution and constitutional bodies was being carried out, the democracy won finally. Our candidate, Karamvir Singh Baudh won the seat today... We congratulate our leaders and workers... BJP tried to do horse trading today."

Haryana Minister Mahipal Dhanda, while talking to the reporters, said, "The independent candidate has the right to seek votes, but Congress have held their workers hostage... BJP candidates won with a huge majority. Independent candidates sought support from us, and we gave... This is an election fought on internal voice, and Congress is killing it in its workers..."

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)