Upset over absence of sarpanch, Haryana minister Devender Babli's outburst kicks up row

Deepender Deswal

Fatehabad, January 3

Upset over the absence of the newly elected sarpanch in his programme at Nadhori village in Fatehabad district, the Development and Panchayat Minister, Devender Babli, gave rise to a controversy when he stated that the Right to Recall Act could be invoked for holding fresh panchayat elections if the villagers initiated the process of no-confidence motion.

False allegations by minister

• Sarpanch Narender Kumar also filed a complaint to the Chief Minister saying the minister levelled false allegations against him of ‘indulging in hooliganism’ and nursing a grudge and had asked the villagers to submit a resolution for a no- confidence motion against him, so that he could be removed from the post
• Kumar said even though no new work had started in the village after the formation of the new panchayat, still the minister and his aides were levelling allegations against him

Sarpanch not clearing works

Development and Panchayat Minister Devender Babli said the sarpanch was not clearing the pending works, which was creating hurdles in the development of the village. “I have reached out to all sarpanches in the state for getting more development works done. But some persons try to create unnecessary hurdles. However, I am of the opinion that the sarpanch should work for the betterment of the entire village instead of adopting a partisan approach

The minister had gone to the village yesterday to invite them for his proposed meeting with the newly elected panchayats scheduled to be held at Bidhaikhera village of the Tohana Assembly segment in the district. Babli is JJP MLA from Tohana Assembly segment as he had defeated the then BJP state president Subhash Barala in the previous Assembly polls.

Village sarpanch Narender Kumar had won the election by just one vote by defeating Sunder Kumar in the recently held panchayat elections. The post of sarpanch was reserved for the Scheduled Caste candidate in the village.

In an outburst against the sarpanch, the minister expressed dismay that the sarpanch had not attended his programme. “I want to ask the sarpanch whether he wants development of the village or not? He had won the election by just one vote. Should he now try to block the development of the village? If the villagers give it in writing, the sarpanch can face action. I have also congratulated him on his win and requested him to work for the development of the village without any prejudice”, he stated while targeting the sarpanch.

In his outburst, the minister said the government had many powers and if the villagers felt that hurdles were being created in the way of development of the village, the gram sabha and villagers could initiate the process under the Right to Recall Act. “If 50 per cent of the villagers give it in writing then I will recommend holding of fresh elections in the village. He (sarpanch) should realise that by getting elected as the sarpanch, he has not got the licence for ‘goondagardi’ (hooliganism).” The video went viral on social media today.

Sarpanch Narender Kumar stated that he had gone to Bikaner for some work. The sarpanch also filed a complaint to the Chief Minister saying the minister had levelled false allegations against him of “indulging in goondagardi” and nursing a grudge and had asked the villagers to submit a resolution for a no-confidence motion against him, so that he could be removed from the post. He stated that some persons purportedly close to the minister were pressuring him to clear the payment of some old work and wanted him to be under their influence.