Terming it a burden on the state exchequer, Haryana's leader of opposition Abhay Chautala on Thursday urged the state government to immediately withdraw cabinet minister-level facilities to former chief ministers.Chautala, in a letter to Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Thursday, said that the facilities were extended to former chief ministers by the previous Congress government headed by Bhupinder Singh Hooda towards the fag end of its tenure."The decision was taken by the Hooda government when it was evident that the Congress would not return to power in the state. Everyone knew that the Hooda government was going out of power and the decision was taken to facilitate things for Hooda," claimed Chautala, secretary general of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD).
The facilities include a government bungalow, official car, staff and other facilities of the level of cabinet ministers."This step was nothing but misuse of position by Hooda for his vested interests. He did this so that he could keep enjoying, even when out of power, the same facilities which he got as chief minister. This is an unnecessary burden on the state exchequer," Chautala said.Hooda remained chief minister of Haryana for two consecutive terms (2005-2009 and 2009-2014).The Congress was relegated to the third position, behind the Bharatiya Janata Party and the INLD, in the October 2014 assembly polls.Chautala's father, Om Prakash Chautala, was also a former chief minister of Haryana but is currently serving a 10-year jail term after being convicted in a teachers' recruitment scam.