JJP leader Dushyant Chautala writes to Haryana governor, to back no-trust vote
Puts ball in Congress court, saying it will have to decide on steps to corner Nayab Singh Saini-led BJP government in state
Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) leader Dushyant Chautala on Thursday offered to consider outside support to the Congress to bring down the Haryana government and said that governor Bandaru Dattatreya has the power to order a floor test, adding that if the government doesn’t have the majority, then President’s rule should be imposed in the state.
“The government that was formed two months ago is now in the minority because two of the MLAs who supported them, one from the BJP and the other an Independent MLA, have resigned. Three Independent MLAs have withdrawn their support and have written to the governor. The JJP has clearly said that if a no-confidence motion is brought against this government, we will support the motion. We have also written to the governor about it. Now, the Congress has to take this step (seeking a floor test). The Congress will have to decide if they are going to take any steps to corner the BJP government or not,” Chautala told ANI.
He said that the governor should implement President’s rule in Haryana if the state government doesn’t have the majority.
“The governor has the power to order a floor test to see if the government has the strength and if it doesn’t have the majority, immediately implement President’s rule in the state,” he said.
On May 7, the Haryana government suffered a jolt when three independent MLAs withdrew support from the Nayab Singh Saini government, pushing the government into a minority. The three MLAs are Randhir Golan from Pundri, Dharampal Gonder from Nilokheri and Sombir Singh Sangwan from Dadri. All of them have decided to extend support to the Congress.
However, the BJP appears confident of retaining power with former chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar claiming that leaders of the Congress and JJP were in touch with the BJP.
The developments come amid campaigning for the Lok Sabha elections and within two months of Saini taking over as chief minister from Khattar.
In the House of 90, the BJP has 40 MLAs, the Congress has 30, the Jannayak Janata Party has 10, the Haryana Lokhit Party (HLP) and INLD have one each along with six Independents.
The BJP, which had 41 MLAs initially, was reduced to 40 when the Karnal seat fell vacant following the resignation of Khattar, who is the party’s candidate for the May 25 Lok Sabha elections.
