New Delhi: BJP on Thursday raked up in Lok Sabha
the issue of land allocation to the Rajiv Gandhi Charitable
Trust in Haryana triggering protests by Congress members
leading to disruption of the House.
The issue, raised by BJP leader Rajnath Singh, forced two
adjournments of the House, one soon after it met for the day
and another at noon till 2 PM.
Singh alleged that the Trust, headed by the Congress
President, had acquired the land by forcibly taking the
signatures of farmers in Ullahawas village in Gurgaon district
of Haryana.
Demanding a judicial probe, the BJP leader said he had
toured 12 villages in the area, including Ullahawas, and seen
how the land was being forcibly acquired from farmers.
Singh was persistently interrupted by Congress members who
were on their feet blaming the BJP for disrupting Question
Hour and raising matters relating to states.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister P K Bansal also said
Singh`s reference to Haryana was not correct as he was raising
a matter relating to a state.
Deputy Speaker Kariya Munda adjourned the House as the din
continued.
Earlier, when the House assembled for the day, Singh
sought to raise the issue of farmers` grievances in some
villages of Haryana.
Speaker Meira Kumar said she agreed with Singh that land
acquisition was a burning issue and urged him to raise the
matter during Zero Hour.
When Kumar called for the Question Hour, BJP members
trooped into the well shouting slogans against the government
for allocation of land for the Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust.
They chanted slogans `Cancel the land allotment to the
Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust` and `Stop harassment of
farmers` as the Question Hour went on.
As BJP members sensed that the Speaker was in no mood to
set aside the Question Hour and allow Singh to speak, they
started making noise thus drowning the proceedings in the din,
forcing adjournment of the House till noon.
Controversy over the issue erupted after the Punjab and
Haryana High Court pulled up the Haryana government for
flouting laws to grant eight acres land to the Trust.
The court had said it was clear that the state government
had favoured the Trust run by the Gandhi family by exempting
the land from the process while acquiring land for development
of Sectors 58-63 of Gurgaon in Ullahawas village.
PTI
