As Congress leader Manish Tewari raked up the 2012 'troop movement' row, Union Minister Birender Singh on Sunday claimed that "some" Haryana Congress leaders had spread similar rumours earlier in 2009 also while pitching for Chief Ministership for Bhupinder Singh Hooda.
"...When a decision was to be taken on appointing Chief Minister in Haryana...it was in 2009. Some Congress leaders had spread rumours then that army has made a move and that there will be conflicts if a particular leader is not appointed to the post (of the Chief Minister). You can check this report," Singh, who was then in Congress, told reporters here.
The Rural Development Minister made the remark while responding to queries over Tewari's comments during a press briefing ahead of his visit to Dhaka to take part in sixth South Asia Conference on Sanitation (SACOSAN). Singh, who hails from Haryana and was considered a rival of former Haryana Chief Minister Hooda, refused to name the "particular" leader, saying, "That you know who it is." With regard to Tewari's statement, Singh said, "I don't know much about this, but yes, rumours were doing rounds in this regard then. I can't give authentic statement that I know about it. Such reports do surface."
Reviving the 2012 troop movement controversy, Tewari has said that a media report about two key army units moving towards Delhi without notifying the then UPA government was "unfortunate but true".
On the recent reports of shortage of funds in implementing Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, Singh said he has requested Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to release Rs 5000 crore as promised in 2015-16 budget.
He refuted claims that there is delay in payments to states under the scheme. "It is a demand driven programme. We will give money to states if they demand so. Until states give audit report on money provided to them, the second or third installment will not get released," he added. On his Dhaka visit, the Minister said a delegation of 80 people led by him will take part in SACOSAN between January 11 and January 13, when the Government will share measures taken by it in implementation of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan with other SAARC member countries.
He claimed the SAARC countries have "come a long way" in bringing down number of people doing open defecation. "People from these countries constituted 66 per cent of the world populace which would defecate in open as on 1990. In 2015, the number has come down by 30 per cent in these countries, while at world-level there is a drop of 14 per cent. This shows that SAARC countries have done better," he said, reiterating India will be open defecation-free by 2019.
The SACOSAN is a government-led biennial conference on sanitation in South Asia held on rotation basis in each of the SAARC country. It aims to develop a regional agenda on sanitation, share best practices and set actions for the future to promote hygiene in the region.
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