Haryana Assembly takes up no-confidence motion against ML Khattar govt; Congress urges Dushyant Chautala to withdraw support

The Haryana Assembly on Wednesday took up the no-confidence motion against the BJP-JJP government brought by the main Opposition Congress amid the ongoing farmers' protest . Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda  had said on Friday, “The no-confidence motion will let people know which MLA stands with the government and which MLA stands with farmers.” He had said the party needed to move a no-confidence motion because the BJP-JJP government has “lost public confidence” and the coalition government, “betraying public opinion, is taking anti-people decisions one after the other”. The JJP, BJP and the Opposition Congress had issued whip to their MLAs to be present in the House. After the end of the Question Hour on Wednesday, Speaker Gian Chand Gupta admitted the notice of no-confidence motion against the Council of Ministers and kept two hours for discussion. “I have received no-confidence motion from the Leader of Opposition (Bhupinder Singh Hooda) and 27 other Congress MLAs,” the Speaker said.

Haryana Leader of Opposition BS Hooda moves no-confidence motion in the Assembly; says, "more than 250 farmers died on the border. I presented their names but I didn't find it in the newspaper." pic.twitter.com/vf7RzmaQGq

— ANI (@ANI) March 10, 2021

According to the  Times of India, Hooda said that this is not a government of majority but is dependent on the JJP. He asked for secret voting on the no-confidence motion. The government has completely lost the people’s faith, said Hooda and attacked the government over the farmers’ protest, reported the Indian Express. He also said he was pained to see the farmers sitting at the Delhi borders. “JJP’s manifesto mentioned that 10 percent bonus shall be given on crop procurement. Neither a law was framed nor was a bonus given. The BJP’s manifesto ensured double income for farmers and a MSP guarantee… With taxes being imposed on pesticides and fertilizers, expenditure incurred by farmers increasing manifold, and diesel prices increasing, how will you double farmers’ income?” the newspaper quotes him as saying. The Congress leader also trained his guns at the government over the issue of unemployment, claiming that unemployment is the highest in Haryana. Speaking about the new law reserving 75 percent   of private sector jobs for locals, Hooda said the coalition government has altered the Haryana domicile rules under which a person from any state can easily get Haryana domicile as the condition of residence was reduced from 15 to 5 years, reported the Times of India. This would deny the youths of the states their rights, he said. According to the reports, Congress MLA Raghuvir Singh Kadiyan said," If Dushyant Chautala can see the stains of blood of 250 farmers who have died, he should withdraw support today itself." State agriculture minister JP Dalal admitted that the condition of farmers is not that good in the country, but blameed it on the Congress as the party ruled for a majority of the time. “They are misleading people that these are black laws. They said mandis will shut down, they said MSP will be abolished, but they have not been able to quote even one such incident. They are misleading the naive farmers,” the Indian Express quotes him as saying. Reiterating the government’s commitment to doubling the farmers incomes, he said, “We can’t make Congress happy, but we shall surely make farmers happy.” The Speaker then extended the time for discussion on the no-confidence motion by an hour. In the 90-member Haryana Assembly, currently having an effective strength of 88 members, the ruling BJP has 40 members, the JJP 10 and the Congress 30. Seven are Independents, five of whom are supporting the government, while one member is of the Haryana Lokhit Party, who has also extended support to the government. According to  NDTV, the Congress has claimed that two Independent MLAs withdrawn support to the government while the BJP has claimed that there is no threat to the government. Reports indicate that the BJP-JJP government has the numbers but the Congress is hoping to embarrass the government and earn political mileage amid the farmers protest. With inputs from PTI