Gurugram: The Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) has written to Haryana Governor Bandaru Dattatreya urging the Nayab Singh Saini-led BJP government be asked to prove its majority through a floor test in the state assembly.
In a letter to the Governor Wednesday, JJP vice-president Dushyant Chautala highlighted that with the resignation of two MLAs from the House and withdrawal of support by three Independent MLAs, the Saini government has lost a simple majority in the House.
Meanwhile, the Congress, too, reached out to Governor Bandaru Dattatreya seeking an appointment with him Friday. In a letter to the Raj Bhavan, Shadi Lal Kapoor, secretary to the Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda, wrote that a Congress delegation led by Deputy Leader of CLP Aftab Ahmed and party chief whip Bharat Bhushan Batra wants to submit a memorandum on the current political situation in Haryana.
In the 90-member Haryana assembly, the two MLAs — former chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar and Cabinet minister Ranjit Singh — have already resigned from their seats as they are BJP candidates from Karnal and Hisar, respectively.
The Nayab Singh Saini government earlier enjoyed the support of 41 BJP MLAs, six out of seven Independents and the lone MLA of the Haryana Lokhit Party (HLP) Gopal Kanda.
After the resignation by Khattar and Singh, the effective strength of the House came down to 88, with 46 MLAs supporting the government. On Tuesday, three Independent MLAs — Sombir Sangwan from Charkhi Dadri, Randhir Singh Gollen from Pundri, and Dharampal Gonder from Nilokheri — announced their support to the Congress.
Currently, the party-wise position in the Haryana assembly stands as such — BJP (40), Congress (30), JJP (10), Independents (6), INLD (1) and HLP (1).
“Recent developments have unfolded when three of the six Independent MLAs who previously extended their support to the government in March 2024 have now announced the withdrawal of their support,” Dushyant wrote.
The former deputy chief minister said that in the present circumstances, the JJP has a clear stance that it was not supporting the government and was open to extending support to any other political party for government formation.
Highlighting Article 174 of the Constitution which provides the Governor the power to summon, prorogue and dissolve the state assembly, Dushyant said that in the SR Bommai Vs Union of India 1994 case, the Supreme Court has emphasised that the Governor has a Constitutional obligation to act judiciously and impartially in such matters and can call for the floor test to determine the majority of the government in the House.
“Considering the gravity of the current circumstances and the urgent need to reinstate stability and uphold democratic norms in Haryana, I respectfully implore Your Excellency to invoke your Constitutional prerogative as per Article 174 of the Constitution. I urge you to direct the appropriate authority to immediately call for floor test to determine the majority of the government. If the government fails to do so, it is essential for Your Excellency to fulfil your constitutional duty by imposing President’s rule,” Dushyant wrote in the letter.
प्रदेश में वर्तमान राजनीतिक परिस्थितिओं को देखते हुए यह स्पष्ट है कि वर्तमान राज्य सरकार अल्पमत में है। इसे देखते हुए मैंने हरियाणा के महामहिम राज्यपाल महोदय जी को पत्र लिखकर विधानसभा का सत्र बुलाकर फ्लोर टेस्ट की मांग की है। हम मौजूदा सरकार का समर्थन नहीं करते हैं और हरियाणा में… pic.twitter.com/XBExSQBkLQ
— Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) (@JJPofficial) May 9, 2024
In a press conference at Hisar, the JJP leader had announced Wednesday that his party would support any move by the Congress to topple the BJP government in Haryana and also extend outside support to the opposition-led government.
He had further said that the Saini government has now lost the moral right to stay in power and that Saini should either prove his majority on the House floor or submit his resignation on moral grounds.
Contacted by The Print Wednesday, Haryana Speaker Gian Chand Gupta had said that he did not have any official information on the three Independent MLAs withdrawing support from the government.
“Whatever I know about the withdrawal of support is from the media reports. Officially, neither the MLAs have given me any information, nor the Congress leaders have sent any communication,” he said.
“Generally, when a no-confidence motion is moved in the state assembly, the next motion can be moved only after six months. However, the governor can take any decision as a constitutional authority. If any orders come from the governor, he would go by that,” Gupta added.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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