Har minister challenges ex-CM for debate

Haryana Finance Minister Abhimanyu today challenged former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda for a debate on the financial management during his tenure and the present one.
The debate should be held in any university of the state rather than at a political forum, he said in a statement here.
If Hooda wants to have a debate on the financial condition of Haryana during his tenure in comparison to the three years of the present dispensation, he should come forward, Abhimanyu said.
The minister alleged that during his 10-year tenure, Hooda had not "left any stone unturned in ruining the state".

"Not only the financial management of the government was bad, financial mismanagement had adverse effect on HUDA, HSIIDC and power utilities," he said.
In the last three years, the BJP government has not only improved the financial management, but also filled the "pits dug" by the Hooda government, Abimanyu claimed.

Hooda should stop "lying" and accept the truth because the people of Haryana will not fall prey, he said.
Reacting to Hooda's reported statement that the debt burden had increased during the BJP government and there was financial mismanagement, Abhimanyu said a white paper had been released to inform the people how the policies of the Congress government had "ruined" the state.

He said after its formation, the BJP government took over the Rs 26,000-crore debt of power utilities and improved their condition. This has resulted in annual saving of about Rs 1,000 crore, the minister claimed.