DW BUREAU / chandigarh The Congress boycotted part of the Haryana Assembly's day-long session on Wednesday, claiming it was not given time to raise the "burning issues" concerning the people of the state. The party said it wanted an assurance from the government that "various scams" in the state will be probed either by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) or a sitting high court judge. Some Congress MLAs and lone Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) legislator Abhay Singh Chautala also protested over the short duration of the session. Addressing a press conference, Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda said his party legislators were not given time to raise the "burning issues" concerning the people of the state. "We had given Calling Attention notices on various issues and we wanted to bring adjournment motions on some vital issues but we were given no time to raise these issues," he said. He said the Congress wanted a concrete assurance from the government that it will get "various scams, including liquor, paddy, mining, land registries scam, probed either by the CBI or a sitting high court judge? but they remained silent on this because they know they have things to hide". "We boycotted the proceedings as they were not ready to listen to us," he added. The senior Congress leader said the government, during a meeting of the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) of the House held shortly before the session, had assured him that only important legislative business would be conducted on Wednesday. Despite this, an "attempt was made to put up unimportant bills which could have been deferred", Hooda claimed. Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and seven other BJP members, including the Speaker and two ministers, who have contracted COVID-19, were not present in the House. Before entering the Assembly, some Congress MLAs, including Varun Chaudhary and Amit Sihag, held a symbolic protest against "widespread corruption" in the state and wore face masks which read "Against Corruption in COVID". However, they wore regular masks inside the House. Hours before the proceedings of the House began, Chaudhary wrote to Acting Speaker Ranbir Gangwa demanding a longer session. He said many states have a high COVID-19 caseload but their assembly sessions were several days long. Responding to the Opposition, Health Minister Anil Vij said the duration of the session was decided by the BAC. Pointing towards Congress MLAs, Vij said, "Either you announce in the House that you don't treat Hooda as your leader or abide by what has been agreed to because he was present at the BAC meeting." (editor@dailyworld.in)