Hooda government released 17,000 acres land to builders: Haryana BJP govt

Haryana government on Tuesday alleged that the previous Congress regime released over 17,000 acres of land to "big builders" in the last 10 years and assured a "through probe" into the matter.

Haryana Finance Minister Abhimanyu told the Assembly that during Congress' regime, over 17,000 acres of land was released to benefit the big builders when the acquisition proceedings were in progress.

Former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda took strong exception to Abhimanyu's statement, asking him to hold an inquiry into alleged land released to the builders during the acquisition process.

"I assert that not a single inch of land was released to any developer by the government during our rule. Let the BJP government hold an inquiry into the land acquisition/release allegations. I am ready to face any punishment if proved wrong," Hooda said.

However, Abhimanyu said that the government is committed to holding a thorough probe into the matter. Congress MLA Karan Singh Dalal alleged in the Assembly that the Manohar Lal Khattar government has slashed the rates of compensation for land acquisition, thus adversely hitting the farmers whose land was being acquired.

BJP members launched a counter attack on the opposition Congress resulting in noisy scenes in the House for a while. Abhimanyu denied allegations that BJP government in the state has slashed the rates. He said the government has constituted a new committee of senior officials on February 15 to go into the issue and others pertaining to the drafting of rules afresh.