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INLD’s Abhay Chautala, Haryana agriculture minister in war of words
Dalal’s remarks over farmers’ agitation escalates into ugly spat with both leaders accusing each other of corruption
The war of words between Haryana agriculture minister JP Dalal and Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) general secretary Abhay Singh Chautala turned ugly on Thursday when they accused each other of being involved in corrupt activities.
Chautala hit out at Dalal during a press briefing at Jhajjar’s Bahadurgarh on Wednesday evening, saying, “JP Dalal is not a farmer. He was a junior engineer in the Haryana irrigation department. He was suspended as he was involved in a water theft case. He used to create problems for farmers and has a long history of providing canal water to farmers after taking bribes.”
Also read: With no end to deadlock on 3 laws, farmers pile up pressure with numbers
Reacting to Chautala’s allegations, Dalal took to Twitter and wrote, “Everyone in Haryana knows who is the aide of robbers, thieves, criminals and a jail convict.”
Chautala, the INLD Ellenabad MLA, has been targeting Dalal since he termed farmers protesting against the Centre’s three farm laws Khalistani and accused the opposition of being behind the agitation.
Dalal dividing farmers: Tosham MLA Kiran Choudhry
Tosham Congress MLA Kiran Choudhry also attacked Dalal for his remarks against the farmers. “Instead of addressing their grievances, Dalal has been calling them Khalistani and asking the state’s farmers to raise the issue of the Sutlej-Yamuna Link Canal before the Centre. The BJP government has been ruling at the centre and in the state but their leaders have failed to reach an amicable solution despite the Supreme Court verdict in Haryana’s favour. Dalal is making such statements to divide farmers on the basis of states after failing to divide them on the basis of caste and religion,” she said.
Dalal was not available for comment.
