Amid the brewing political crisis in Haryana, a Congress party delegation led by senior leaders Aftab Ahmed and BB Batra on Friday submitted a memorandum at the Raj Bhavan seeking the dismissal of the BJP government, President’s rule and a floor test, fresh elections among other things.

Talking to reporters in Chandigarh, Batra said that Congress MLAs had reached Raj Bhavan to submit the memorandum written by Leader of Opposition Bhupendra Singh Hooda. But since Governor Bandaru Dattatreya is on a Telangana tour, a memorandum has been submitted to his Secretary. “The memorandum demands that Nayab Singh Saini led minority government should be dismissed by the Governor. If they do not do so, then an assembly session should be called and instructions should be given to the present Government to prove its majority.”

Batra further said that some people are spreading the misconception that a vote of confidence proposal cannot be brought in six months, whereas this is not written anywhere in the Constitution. It can be brought up at any time if political circumstances and a number of MLAs change. Therefore, it is important that the BJP Government should prove its majority in the Assembly, he added.

Senior Congress leader Batra said that with the withdrawal of support from the Government by the three Independent MLAs namely Somvir Sangwan, Charkhi Dadri, Randhir Singh Golan, Pudri and Dharn Pal Gonder, Nilokheri, the BJP-led Government has been reduced to a minority. Therefore, this Government has no moral authority, no constitutional validity and no confidence of the people to remain in office even for a moment, said Congress leader.

He further said that at present, the strength of the State Assembly is 88, two MLAs, namely Manohar Lal and Ranjit Singh Chautala have resigned from the Assembly. The Indian National Congress has 30 MLAs who are opposed to this Government. The Jan Nayak Janta Party (JJP), its earlier coalition partner, has withdrawn its support from the Government and demanded the imposition of President’s rule. Similarly, the lone MLA of INLD Party Abhay Singh has also demanded the imposition of President's rule. Three Independent MLAs have recently withdrawn their support from the Government. One Independent MLA Balraj Kundu had withdrawn support a couple of years back and is opposed to this Government. From the above, it is crystal clear that 30+10+1+3+1=45 MLAs are opposing this Government which is more than the 43 MLAs now supporting the Government. This shows that this Government has lost the confidence of the majority of the MLAs in the present House, he said, adding that ideally, the Chief Minister should resign on moral grounds but this Government is unabashedly seeking shelter under sheer technicalities or rather unconstitutionalities by claiming that they have the majority.

After seeking floor test, JJP ’s Dushyant Chautala faces rebellion

A day after Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) leader Dushyant Chautala wrote to Haryana Governor Bandaru Dattatreya seeking a floor-test for the present Government to prove its majority on floor of the House, JJP MLAs led by former minister Devender Babli, who represents Tohana, said they will replace Dushyant Chautala as the legislature party leader and stake claim to the party. The development assumes significance in view of the opposition’s demand for summoning the assembly session to introduce a no-confidence motion. Babli said that Dushyant had written to Dattatreya, demanding a floor test on behalf of JJP MLAs. “When eight of the 10 JJP legislators are against Dushyant, how can he write to the governor without meeting them?” Babli said.

“Dushyant has the support of only his mother, Badhra MLA Naina Chautala. The rest of the MLAs are in favour of changing him. He should resign as legislature party leader otherwise the other MLAs will sack him. We have the support of eight MLAs, he added.

Sources in JJP said that some MLAs will be meeting soon to challenge Dushyant’s leadership. They said that Thursday’s meeting of three JJP MLAs with former chief minister and Karnal BJP Lok Sabha candidate Manohar Lal Khattar was held to discuss this issue. “The rebel MLAs are of the opinion that they will run the party after staking claim on it by following the path of former deputy prime minister Devi Lal,” the sources said.

The rebel JJP MLAs said that they will decide whether to support the BJP government or vote against it when a non-confidence motion is brought in the assembly.

“Before the floor test, we will change our legislature party leader. We will take a decision on whom to support when the no-confidence motion is introduced,” said another rebel JJP MLA, on the condition of anonymity.

Of the 10 JJP MLAs, Babli, Barwala legislator Jogi Ram Sihag, Narnaund MLA Ram Kumar Gautam and Narwana MLA Ram Niwas Surjakhera are leading the rebellion and are in touch with the BJP leadership. However, Dushyant still has the support of Julana MLA Amarjeet Dhanda, Uklana MLA Anoop Dhanak, who is undergoing treatment at Medanta Hospital in Gurugram and his mother Naina Chautala. The family members of the other two MLAs, Ram Karan Kala and Ishwar Singh, have joined the Congress.

Babli alleged that Dushyant had become a ‘khalnayak (villain)’ and his family had made the JJP “a private limited company”. “The party has used the Jannayak word from Devi Lal but Dushyant has become Khalnayak. Eight JJP MLAs and the people of Haryana are against him because of his arrogance and dictatorship. “Dushyant used to question us whenever we attended any social function organised by other party leaders. After becoming deputy chief minister, he distanced himself from party MLAs. The voters elected us, we are MLAs not bonded labour,: he added.

Talking to reporters, JJP general secretary Digvijay Singh Chautala said that the party legislators were standing with Dushyant and such claims are false and baseless.

CM Saini accuses Congress of ‘misleading’ people

Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini on Friday accused the Congress of “misleading people.” Saini, who has repeatedly stressed that his government is safe, said that the grand old party should write to the Governor informing him about the number of MLAs who are supporting the opposition. He also recalled the floor test he won in March, days after succeeding BJP colleague Manohar Lal Khattar in the top post.

The BJP has 40 members and has the support of two independents — Nayan Pal Rawat from Prithla and Rakesh Daulatabad from Badshahpur — and Gopal Kanda of the Haryana Lokhit Party. That takes it to 43, two short of the majority mark of 45 in the assembly that currently has a strength of 88. Moreover, three legislators from the BJP's former ally, JJP, met ex-CM Khattar at the residence of Panchayat Minister Mahipal Dhanda on Thursday. They are Devender Singh Babli, Jogi Ram Sihag, and Ramniwas Surjakhera.