Don’t want floor test, but dissolution of Assembly: Bhupinder Hooda pushes for poll

Bhartesh Singh Thakur

Chandigarh, June 17

A delegation of the Haryana Congress will meet Governor Bandaru Dattatreya to demand the dissolution of the Haryana Vidhan Sabha on June 20. The party doesn’t want a floor test, as it “fears horse-trading.” “The delegation will include former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda, state Congress president Udai Bhan, and four more MLAs. A memorandum regarding the dissolution of the House will be submitted,” said Deputy Congress Legislative Party leader Aftab Ahmed.

In a previous memorandum to the Governor on May 11, the party had also requested the Governor to dismiss the minority BJP government and hold elections under the President’s rule.

The Haryana Vidhan Sabha has a strength of 90 MLAs. However, after the death of Badshahpur MLA Rakesh Daultabad on May 25, the resignation of Power Minister and BJP’s Hisar Lok Sabha candidate Ranjit Singh, and the resignation of Mullana MLA Varun Chaudhary following his election from Ambala Lok Sabha seat, the House now has 87 MLAs.

The BJP has 41 MLAs, and along with the support of the Haryana Lokhit Party (HLP)’s lone MLA, Gopal Kanda, and an Independent, Nayan Pal Rawat, their tally is 43. In the Opposition, the Congress has 29 MLAs, the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) has 10, and the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) has one. Three Independents support the Congress, and another Independent, Balraj Kundu, has been opposing the BJP. This takes the tally of the Opposition to 44.

JJP’s Dushyant Chautala and INLD’s Abhay Chautala have also written to the Governor to convene an Assembly session for the floor test. They have also called for imposing the President’s rule if the government fails to prove a majority. The JJP wants the Governor to act as per the SR Bommai judgment. The nine-judge Bench in the Bommai case had ruled that the only way to determine the support of the government would be through a floor test.

But there is a catch. Two of JJP’s MLAs, Ram Niwas Surjakhera from Narwana and Jogi Ram Sihag from Barwala, supported the BJP during the Lok Sabha elections. They even met CM Nayab Singh Saini after the Lok Sabha poll results and assured their support if a no-confidence motion is moved.

Meanwhile, JJP’s Tohana MLA, Devender Singh Babli, supported Kumari Selja in the Sirsa Lok Sabha seat. The son of JJP’s Guhla MLA Ishwar Singh joined Congress, and so did two sons of the party’s Shahbad MLA Ram Karan Kala during the parliamentary poll campaigning. It reflects that the JJP is in a state of flux.

Saini has been claiming that numbers are on the BJP’s side. “But officially, the BJP is in the minority and has the support of just 43 MLAs. If two JJP MLAs vote for the BJP, they will be disqualified from the House under the anti-defection law, as the JJP has expressed no confidence in the government,” said Congress chief whip BB Batra.

Fear horse-trading

We want dissolution of the House and elections under the President’s rule. We don’t want a floor test, as horse-trading could take place. It brings a bad name to the state. — Bhupinder Singh Hooda, former Chief Minister