Chandigarh, Apr 10 (PTI): Opposition Congress and INLD have stepped up their attack on the BJP government in Haryana over the alleged cash-for-job scam issue, with both the parties demanding dissolving the Haryana Staff Selection Commission (HSSC) and an in-depth probe into the matter. The flying squad of Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had on April 5 unearthed the alleged cash-for-job racket involving employees of the HSSC and other departments and “brokers”.
They would take money from aspirants for selection in government jobs, an official spokesperson had said. Terming it the “biggest ever” scam in the history of Haryana, Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala asked, “If the chief minister’s claims of transparency and accountability are genuine, why is he running shy of disbanding the staff selection commission and ordering an inquiry by two sitting judges of Punjab and Haryana High Court?”
“Multiple layers of the sinister jobs recruitment and bribery scams are yet to be unveiled, and the real culprits and kingpins are escaping the clutches of law,” the MLA from Kaithal said in a statement. “In case a fair investigation is conducted, the big fish in the government would definitely be exposed,” he claimed.
Surjewala also said if Khattar does not order a judicial probe immediately, “it would be apparent that he is trying to protect the accused”. “In such an eventuality, he would have no moral right to continue as the chief minister and will have to resign forthwith,” he said. Addressing a press conference here, the Leader of the Opposition in Haryana Assembly, Abhay Singh Chautala, demanded that the HSSC should be “dissolved immediately” and an investigation into the cash-for-job scam be handed over to the CBI.
The INLD leader said that he had recently brought to everyone’s notice that all was not well within the HSSC, “but this was down-played by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar in the Vidhan Sabha”. “But with the new developments the Chief Minister will have to answer many questions as it is apparent that the cash-for-job scam has a very wide network in the State… therefore, only an in-depth CBI inquiry can get to the bottom of this racket,” he said.
Chautala also accused the BJP government of diverting the attention of the people from the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal issue by raising the question of utilising water from rivers flowing into Pakistan. He said the real issue was completion of the construction of SYL canal.
“The INLD and the people of Haryana will not be diverted from the real issue and will make every effort to bring Haryana’s share of river water to the state. The Jail Bharo’ agitation beginning from May 1 is a step in this direction,” Chautala said.