New Haryana Congress chief Rao Narender Singh chargesheeted in ‘cash-for-CLU’ case

An official told The Indian Express that the chargesheet was submitted to a local court in Narnaul on Thursday under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. At present, Singh is the sole individual named in the case.

The allegations trace back to Singh’s tenure in the Bhupinder Singh Hooda-led Cabinet, where he served as minister for health and medical education from 2011 to 2014 during the Congress regime.

The issue had made headlines in 2013, when Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) leader Abhay Chautala released a CD purportedly showing Singh discussing a payment of ₹30–50 crore with a journalist and another man, allegedly in exchange for a CLU for a 30-acre plot in Gurgaon.

Denying the charges, Singh had claimed he was “just helping a friend”. “What else are you supposed to say if somebody comes to you as a friend? If someone comes to you with some papers, you will discuss and say you will help. That is what I did. It is unfortunate if somebody wrongly interprets the matter,” he had said at the time.

The issue blew up later in 2013 after the INLD released another CD, which showed a few Haryana MLAs allegedly demanding cash in exchange for CLUs. Amid mounting pressure following revelations in the alleged ‘cash-for-CLU’ scam, the Hooda-led government opted to hand over the case to the Lokayukta for investigation.

Trouble mounted further after the BJP came to power in October 2014, with chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar’s government acting on then Haryana Lokayukta Justice Pritam Pal’s order for a probe. The investigation, led by then additional director general of police V Kamaraja, found the CDs authentic. Singh was booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act in January 2026. The case is still pending before the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

The INLD, which “exposed” the alleged CLU scam, was quick to react to Singh’s appointment as Haryana Congress president recently. “The Congress should have waited for the court to clear him of the charges before making him the state president,” said Rampal Majra, senior INLD leader.

Following the CLU controversy, Singh—a three-time former MLA—faced consecutive defeats in the Narnaul Assembly constituency, losing elections in 2014, 2019, and 2024.

‘Congress will not be intimidated’

Reacting to the development, Rajya MP and senior Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala said, “In just 25 days, the BJP government has turned that entire ‘bundle of baseless lies’ into truth—lies that had been lying in the ‘dustbin of investigation’ for 12 years. This, in itself, is proof of the conspiracy fuelled by the flames of political vengeance burning within the Nayab Saini government.”

“But know this: the Congress party and its state president will not be intimidated by these cowardly threats. Together, we will bravely fight for the people of Haryana,” Surjewala added.