BJP splits with ally JJP in Haryana

New Delhi/Chandigarh: A day after Haryana witnessed a political upheaval with the Manohar Lal Khattar government resigning and a new government led by Nayab Singh Saini replacing it, the new BJP government on Wednesday won the trust vote by voice vote in the state Assembly. Former BJP ally Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) had issued a whip to its 10 MLAs, who left the House when the trust vote was taken up.

Speaker Gian Chand Gupta put the trust vote for voting by voice vote, which the Saini government won. Former state home minister and senior BJP leader Anil Vij was present in the House. During the voice vote, besides the JJP’s 10 MLAs, the lone Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) MLA was also not present in the House.

Congress members asked the Speaker Gupta to conduct the vote through a secret ballot, but he refused, saying there was no provision in the rules for the same.

The new CM will, meanwhile, be contesting from the Karnal Assembly seat after sitting MLA and former CM Manohar Lal Khattar announced he was resigning as a member of the Assembly. Mr Khattar will contest the Lok Sabha polls from the Karnal seat, the BJP announced on Wednesday evening.

A day after their alliance ended, Jannayak Janta Party chief Ajay Singh Chautala said his party worked with full honesty to fulfil the “gathbandhan dharma” over the last four and a half years and that his party was never power hungry.

Mr Chautala said his party had demanded two Lok Sabha seats in Haryana for the coming general electio, but was refused by the BJP. He said that he sent Dushyant Chautala back to the BJP leadership with the message that the JJP would not fight even a single seat if it fulfils the promise of Rs 5,100 per month under the Old Age Pension scheme and would support it in all 10 seats. “We are not power hungry,” he said.

In Chandigarh, the new CM moved a motion to seek a vote of confidence in the Assembly. A two-hour discussion took place on the motion. Speaking in the House, Mr Saini said: “Our government not only has the trust of the MLAs, but we also have the trust of the people of Haryana.”

JJP MLAs Devender Singh Babli, Ram Kumar Gautam, Ishwar Singh, Ram Niwas and Jogi Ram Sihag left the House when the trust vote was taken up.

In the 90-member Assembly, the BJP has 41 members, and it

also enjoys the support of six of the seven Independents, as well as of lone Haryana Lokhit Party MLA Gopal Kanda. The main Opposition Congress has 30 MLAs.

The BJP was comfortably placed in the Haryana Assembly even without the JJP's support.

During the discussion on the trust vote, the new CM praised

his predecessor for the work undertaken during his nine-year-long tenure. He said it was his first day in the House as chief minister and Leader of the House.

Recalling his days when he was a member of the House during 2014-2019, Mr Saini said: “During that time I was told I had to contest Lok Sabha polls. At that time, I was a minister in the Haryana government. When the party desired that I contest the LS polls, I abided by that… When the party entrusted me with the new responsibility, I am here to take up the latest assignment.”

The new chief minister said he comes from an ordinary background and no other member from his family was in politics. Praising Mr Khattar, the new CM said he has learnt a lot from him. Under the leadership of Mr Khattar, the state presented a good governance model in the entire country. Several development works were undertaken by the Khattar government, said Mr Saini.

Before the chief minister moved the confidence motion, Congress MLAs sought to know from Speaker Gupta about the urgency of convening the Assembly session.

“There was no emergency,” senior Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda said, and claimed that proper time was not given to the MLAs. Mr  Hooda asked the Speaker to adjourn the session for at least one hour so that the legislators could reach the Assembly. To this, the Speaker said it was the duty of the members to reach the House on time.

Participating in the discussion, Mr Hooda said in 2019, the BJP formed a government in alliance with the JJP. “But the BJP-JJP government failed on all fronts and the BJP had

to change its chief minister,” he alleged.

The former Haryana chief minister said it was for the first time that a party (JJP) was issuing a whip to its members to remain absent from the House.

“What does this mean. This shows that both the BJP and JJP are hand-in-glove… The JJP members should have been present and voted against this government, but people know what they are doing… This is a stopgap arrangement,” said Mr Hooda, while claiming that Mr Saini was playing the role of a “night watchman”.

“Don't deceive the public, dissolve the House and seek a fresh mandate,” demanded Mr Hooda.

Describing chief minister Saini as a gentle person, Congress MLA Raghuver Singh Kadian claimed the BJP leader has been made a “scapegoat” by being handed over the crown when the state was passing through “unstable times”.

“President’s Rule should be imposed in the situation that prevails. We stand in opposition to this trust vote. If the voting is held through secret ballot, at least five members from the treasury benches will oppose it,” the Congress MLA said.

Participating in the discussion, Independent MLA Ranjit Singh Chautala, a minister in the Saini Cabinet, said: “Prime Minister Narendra Modi has become ‘Jannayak’ (mass leader). The situation in the Congress is such that their leaders are disillusioned and are leaving the party.”

After taking oath of office on Tuesday evening, Mr Saini had said they presented a letter of support of 48 MLAs to the governor and asked him to convene an Assembly session on Wednesday to prove its majority in the House.