India: Bring MLA, MPs under right to recall: Hooda

Bhupinder Singh Hooda

Chandigarh, Nov 7 (PTI) Former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Saturday asserted that the right to recall must be first applicable on MLAs and MPs and only then it should be allowed for members of panchayati raj institutions.

"The right to recall should be implemented for MLAs and MPs first. After that it should be taken to the lower level," Hooda, who is the Leader of Opposition in the Haryana Assembly, said.

The Haryana Assembly on Friday passed a Bill, which provides the right to recall members of panchayati raj institutions to those who elected them in case they fail to perform.

The former state CM also criticised the role of Haryana Assembly Speaker Gyan Chand Gupta during the Vidhan Sabha session on Friday when a resolution over the Centre's farm laws was passed.

By not allowing voting after a debate on the resolution over the farm laws, the speaker strangled democracy, he alleged.

Hooda said the Congress will continue to oppose the new laws unless the Union government brings a fourth law that guarantees the minimum support price (MSP) to farmers.

Hooda said without the MSP, the three laws will destroy farmers.

"This will gradually eliminate the mandis and the minimum support price system. Not only this, they will have the greatest impact on poor sections who get ration from government depots, he said.

The way government agencies are withdrawing from the procurement of crops, it is clear that in the coming times, it will have an impact on the public distribution system, he added.

The Congress leader said if the government does not procure crops at all, it is obvious that ration to poor families through depots will also be stopped.

"Not only this, these laws have started hitting the general public. The result of the change in the Essential Commodities Act is that hoarders are buying onion from farmers for Rs 4-5 per kg and selling it to the general public at Rs 100 per kg," he said.