Chandigarh, September 7
Haryana’s Congress government has been stung by a sting. The government, which was defending Chief Parliamentary Secretary Ram Kishan Fauji till yesterday, found itself today in a bigger mess as the cash for change of land use (CLU) “scam” took seven more Congressmen, including four MLAs, into its fold.

In the video clips “unveiled” by Indian National Lok Dal’s (INLD) Abhay Chautala, Chief Parliamentary Secretary Vinod Bhyana is seen asking for Rs 2.5 crore for a CLU of a four-acre plot in Gurgaon while MLA Naresh Selvel strikes a “deal” for Rs 12 crore to get a plot exempted from acquisition.

Ratia MLA Jarnail Singh “settles” at Rs 3 crore for the CLU of a two-acre Sector 31 plot for a group housing society. Another clip shows MLA Ram Niwas Ghorela agreeing to arrange for permission for a school at a brick kiln under the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan programme for a hefty sum while former Haryana Youth Congress president Sanjay Chhoker “seeks” 25 per cent of the market price for a CLU case in Faridabad.

Gaurav, Nalwa MLA Sampat Singh’s son, features in a deal for a CLU for 58 acres in Palwal at Rs 60 crore while Sajid, CPS Jaleb Khan’s son, is seen assuring the party of a change of land use in Palwal after taking a former MLA on board.

Though the veracity of the CDs is yet to be ascertained, it has, once again, brought Haryana’s land deals under the spotlight.

While the dust is yet to settle on the Robert Vadra land deals, the government seems to be out of the frying pan and into the fire with this latest release of video clips — a sting operation funded by the INLD.

Though Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda had termed Fauji’s clip as “doctored”, the government and the party are silent on the fresh releases. However, the Congressmen in the clips have individually termed this as a “conspiracy” to defame them, claimed that the clips were “morphed” and stated that the allegations were “baseless”.

On the condition on anonymity, senior Congressmen claimed that the clips don’t show any money changing hands and those caught on camera only mention a procedural sequence to be followed. That is indicative of nothing, they claimed.

The INLD, on the backfoot since the conviction of its party chief Om Prakash Chautala and elder son Ajay Singh Chautala in January, seems to be in a self-congratulatory mode for exposing the “corrupt” and dealing a hard blow to the image of the Congress.

Stating that corruption has assumed the proportion of an industry in Haryana, Chautala said, “Agents of Congressmen operate all over the state. We want Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda to own responsibility and step down while the MLAs shown in clips should be dismissed from the membership of the House. Also, a sitting judge should be appointed to hold an inquiry.”

Meanwhile, sources in the government said that getting a CLU was not a big deal unless the area in question fell outside the controlled area.

Within the controlled area, a CLU as per the development plan is deemed to have been granted to the industry two months after an application is moved and three months after an application is sent for the rest -- if all the papers are in order. “The government discretion only comes in if the pocket in question falls out of the controlled area. “So there should be no question of any money changing hands,” an official said.