Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Monday attacked the opposition Indian National Lok Dal for spreading "false propaganda" about the JBT teacher recruitment scam, and said they should "hire a good advocate to plead their case in the court" instead of challenging him for a debate on the issue.
Hooda said, "Today they are accusing me and CBI for falsely implicating them in the case."
He said when the Supreme Court-ordered CBI inquiry started Om Prakash Chautala was the chief minister.
In 2003, INLD was an ally of the BJP and the NDA. "When FIR was registered against the INLD leaders in 2004, at that time also, Om Prakash Chautala was the Chief Minister and BJP supported by INLD was in power at the Centre. "I became Chief Minister of Haryana on March 5, 2005, therefore, how CBI and I could be blamed for this," Hooda questioned.
He said that they (INLD) "were suffering due their own misdeeds." Time and again the opposition leaders had challenged me to debate the (JBT) issue "but they themselves refrain from debate in the Assembly which is an appropriate platform to discuss such issues", the chief minister said.
He suggested that instead of asking him to debate, they should hire a good advocate to plead their case in the court of law. On January 16, former Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala, his MLA-son Ajay Chautala and 53 others were convicted by a Delhi court for the illegal recruitment of over 3,000 junior basic trained (JBT) teachers in the state.
The chief minister also announced that parts of mythical Saraswati River here will be rejuvenated and fresh water would start flowing in it from this year.
