Haryana is gearing up for its Assembly elections in 2024. Voting is scheduled for 5th October, with the counting of votes set for 8th October. Political parties are actively releasing their candidate lists. The BJP, which has governed Haryana for a decade, is aiming for a third consecutive victory. Meanwhile, the Congress is striving to regain power but faces challenges due to past land scams during its tenure.
During the Congress government led by Bhupinder Singh Hooda, several land scams surfaced, where allegations were made of favouring powerful individuals while neglecting the poor and vulnerable sections. Numerous irregularities in land acquisition and resource distribution were reported, raising serious concerns about transparency.
The Congress administration witnessed various land scams, including the IMT Manesar scam, Reliance Industry scam, Gurgaon Amusement Park scam, and the sale of Wazirabad land to DLF. Other notable scams include the Skylight Hospitality scam, Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust Land scam, Rohtak Land scam, Ullahwas Land scam, Kurukshetra 326 Canal Land scam, Panchkula Industrial Plot Allocation scam, sale of 23,413 acres of land, and the Nala scam.
A pattern emerged during the Congress rule where land belonging to poor farmers and vulnerable sections was taken away to benefit influential individuals and large corporations. For instance, in the IMT Manesar scam, 912 acres of land were acquired under questionable circumstances. This case exemplifies how people's assets were seized without transparency.
Another significant issue was the illegal occupation of Panchayat land in Namarha village, Panipat. This incident highlighted how public property was misused and people's rights were disregarded during the Congress regime.
A case of manipulation was revealed in the allocation of residential plots designated for Scheduled Castes. In this scam, 129 members of the same family were wrongly allotted plots. This misuse of resources and influence violated the rights of vulnerable sections.
Under Bhupinder Singh Hooda's tenure, job opportunities showed bias towards a specific community through the Kharche-Parchi system. Those who bid the highest got jobs, mainly benefiting the favoured community. This system deprived other communities of employment opportunities.
During Hooda's rule, a specific community received special privileges that reduced the likelihood of legal action against them. This situation fostered fear and insecurity among other communities. Many were unable to seek justice during this period.
Reliance Industry and Other Land ScamsA scam involving Reliance Industry was uncovered where 25,000 acres of land in the Jhajjar-Gurgaon region were sold at prices far below market value. Similarly, the sale of land to DLF in Wazirabad and other scams like the amusement park scam and Skylight Hospitality scam further exposed misuse of land during Congress's rule.
The BJP has highlighted these issues as part of its campaign against Congress. A tweet from Haryana BJP stated: Congress's CLU gang intimidated farmers by threatening them with Section 4 and 6, bought their land worth crores for peanuts and pleased the party's son-in-law. Bhupinder Hooda Ji, the farmers of Haryana will never forget your atrocities. #HuddakaCLU_Scam
As Haryana prepares for its upcoming elections, these past scandals continue to impact political dynamics. The BJP aims to leverage these issues to secure another term while Congress faces an uphill battle to regain public trust amidst these allegations.