Date:28/05/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/05/28/stories/2008052854820700.htm

New Delhi

Govt. vigilant about Gujjar stir: Hooda

Special Correspondent

CHANDIGARH: Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said on Tuesday that his government was vigilant about the ongoing agitation by Gujjars in neighbouring Rajasthan and added that such protests in Haryana were peaceful.

Talking to media persons in the Haryana Vidhan Sabha complex after the two newly-elected Congress legislators, Bhim Sain Mehta and Jagbir Singh Malik, were administered the oath by Speaker Raghubir Singh Kadiyan, Mr. Hooda said the Rajasthan Government should resolve this issue amicably and peacefully.

He said in case the political party which was in power in Rajasthan now (BJP) had made a promise in its election manifesto to grant Scheduled Tribe status to Gujjars, it should “resolve the issue.”

Asked whether any MLA would be inducted into his Cabinet during the ensuing reshuffle, Mr. Hooda’s cryptic reply was that everything was possible.

However, he declined to comment whether any of the two newly-elected Congress MLAs from Gohana and Indri would find a berth.

Mr. Hooda assured adequate supply of electricity to farmers for paddy sowing. He reiterated that the priorities of his regime were to make Haryana the No.1 State in all spheres of development in the country and effectively deal with basic problems like shortage of power.

Asked whether former Chief Minister and newly-elected Haryana Janhit Congress MLA from Adampur Bhajan Lal would be accepted back into the Congress, Mr. Hooda emphatically said “No”, adding that Mr. Bhajan Lal had “totally betrayed the Congress.”

Complimented

Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee president Phool Chand Mullana said that he had called on party president Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi on Monday and she had complimented Mr. Hooda saying that the Congress had won because of the good work done in the State.

Meanwhile, Mr. Hooda paid rich tributes to Jawaharlal Nehru on his 44th death anniversary at a function organised by the Haryana PCC at its office here.

He described Pandit Nehru as a great statesman and a visionary who not only laid the foundation of modern India but also served as an ambassador of peace in the world.