Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar will a face no-confidence motion in the Legislative Assembly today. Voting on the no-confidence motion, moved by the opposition Congress, is likely to take place today, but unlikely to pose a major threat to the BJP-Jannayank Janta Party (JJP) alliance government. The alliance enjoys a comfortable majority in the 90-member House.
Congress' move is seen as an attempt to embarrass the ruling alliance as it comes amid the raging stir against the Modi government's farm laws. The Congress will try to gain political mileage by bringing the no-trust motion against the BJP-JJP.
Both the BJP and JJP have issued a whip and asked their MLAs to be present in the House. Kanwar Pal, the chief whip of BJP Legislature Party, has asked the party MLAs to be present in the House at the time of voting.
The Congress party has also issued a whip. Congress Legislature Party (CLP) chief whip Bharat Bhushan Batra asked party MLAs to be present in the House to support the No-Confidence Motion against the Khattar government.
“Hon’ble Members of CLP, Haryana are informed that No-Confidence Motion against the Government shall be listed on 10th March, 2021 in the business of the House. I issue whip, that you must ensure your presence in the House on 10th March, 2021 at 10.00 am positively and support the vote of No Confidence,” a note from Batra read.
Senior Congress leader and former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda had announced two months announced that he will move a no-confidence motion against the BJP-JJP alliance government. He submitted the motion on March 5 which was accepted by Speaker Cian Chand Gupta and scheduled it for a discussion on March. The Budget Session of the Haryana Assembly commenced on March 5.
How numbers stack up
The Haryana Legislative Assembly currently has an effective strength of 88. Earlier, Indian National Lok Dal’s lone MLA Abhay Chautala resigned in solidarity with farmers and Congress MLA Pradeep Chaudhary was disqualified after being convicted in a riots case.
The ruling BJP-JJP alliance needs the support of at least 45 MLAs to prove majority. The BJP has 40 MLAs and the JJP has 10 members. The JJP is led by deputy CM Dushyant Chautala.
Congress, on the other hand, has 30 MLAs. Seven are Independents, five of whom are supporting the Khattar government. The Haryana Lokhit Party has one member who has also extended support to the government.
