Congress says he just wanted to gloat over party’s Tripura victory.
Chandigarh: Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar literally saw red in the assembly this week, launching an unexpected attack on the Left when asked by the Congress to respond on the nearly month-long protest by anganwadi workers in the state.
Supported by the Haryana branch of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (a CPI (M) affiliate), the state’s anganwadi workers and helpers have been holding protests seeking, among other things, a pay hike and the regularisation of jobs.
Khattar’s diatribe came days after his party, the BJP, stormed Left citadel Tripura, unseating the CPI (M) after 25 years in office.
Speaking on the second day of the budget session Tuesday, the CM said the “lal jhandewaale (those with a red flag, a communist symbol)” indulged in “badmaashi”. Many factories in the state had shut down because of the “lal rang”, he added. Khattar said the “colour red” had vanished from many states and would continue to do so.
‘Remarks lay bare his arrogance’
Haryana has virtually no presence of the CPI or the CPI (M). In the assembly elections held since the creation of Haryana in 1966, the two parties have barely garnered 1-2 per cent of the total votes, with their share dwindling steadily over the years (see box).
CITU Haryana said the words used by the CM “did not behove a man in his position”.
In a statement issued Wednesday, the outfit’s general secretary Jai Bhagwan said, “The BJP too has its trade union wing and they are trying their best to establish it among workers. Have we opposed that?”
“If the workers have more faith in us, it is not our fault,” he added, “If we start saying that we will end the rule of the saffron-flagged unions in the state, will they tolerate it?”
The Congress said Khattar’s remarks were unwarranted. “The language used by the CM was unfortunate. The anganwadi workers are women and he is associating them with one party,” said Kiran Choudhry, leader of the Congress in the assembly.
“They have been protesting for so many days and this is the government’s attitude towards them,” she added.
Congress leader Karan Dalal said the attack “laid bare the CM’s arrogance”.
“The CM has no control over the state and he is busy fighting paper tigers. Elections are only a year away but there is no dearth in arrogance among BJP MLAs,” he said.
“What was the point of criticising the Leftist ideology in a state where they have virtually no presence? The CM only wanted to gloat over the BJP’s victory in Tripura. The BJP will pay for this conceit in the elections,” he added.