Chandigarh: The BJP government in Haryana is giving "sweet pills of false announcements when power seems to be slipping away", Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda said on Wednesday after Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini made several announcements for village sarpanches.
Assembly elections in Haryana are due later this year.
In the 10 years of BJP's rule, various sections who protested for their demands received "lathis", Hooda said.
He asserted the people of the state "would not get trapped in any illusion and will not rest until they oust the BJP from power".
The Leader of Opposition in Haryana said with Assembly elections due later this year, the BJP government "is now giving sweet pills of false announcements when power seems to be slipping away".
Under the BJP's rule the Panches and Sarpanches were beaten with lathis in Panchkula when they raised their demands, Hooda claimed.
"Now, realising that power is slipping away from its hands, the BJP has realized that the system during the Congress' time was correct and the development of villages is safe in the hands of panches and sarpanches." "By taking a u-turn on every decision, the BJP has accepted both its defeat and failure. Instead of asking for votes in the upcoming assembly elections, this government should seek an apology from the public. The BJP has lost the right to remain in power," he added.
Addressing panchayat representatives across the state at the Panchayati Raj and Sarpanch Sammelan in Kurukshetra on Tuesday, Chief Minister Saini said sarpanches can now undertake development works up to Rs 21 lakh in their gram panchayats without e-tendering. Previously, this limit was Rs 5 lakh.
The chief minister also announced that sarpanches can now claim travel expenses at a rate of Rs 16 per kilometre when using their car or taxi for gram panchayat work.
Last year, a large number of sarpanches protested against the e-tendering system for development works in rural areas, claiming it would curtail their spending powers.
A few months ago, Hooda had alleged that the panchayat e-tendering system was the "mother of corruption" in Haryana and said it would be scrapped if the Congress came to power in the 2024 assembly elections.