New Delhi: The Manohar Lal Khattar-led BJP government in Haryana won the no-confidence motion brought up by the Congress party, as the ruling side mustered 55 votes against the opposition’s 32 votes in the 90-member assembly.
The motion has been moved in the backdrop of ongoing farmers’ protests, and the Congress claimed that the chief aim of the motion was to let people know which MLAs stood with the farmers, and who took the side of the government. Despite the ruling BJP with its alliance partner Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) pulling through, the debate leading to the trust vote provided the opposition and several legislators of the ruling alliance an opportunity to question the government’s policies.
First trust vote for Khattar
This was also the first time since the BJP-led government was formed in the state on October 27, 2019 that it was made to prove its majority on the floor of the house. Following the elections 16 months ago, the BJP with its 40 MLAs had joined hands with the JJP, which had 10 MLAs and was led by Dushyant Chautala – who was subsequently made the deputy chief minister – to form the government. This apart the alliance had received the support of seven independents, giving it a total strength of 57 in the 90-member House.
Also read: Farmers’ Protest: The Haryana Municipal Poll Verdict Sends a Clear Message to the BJP
With two of the seats falling vacant, and the house strength getting reduced to 88, the BJP needed the support of 45 legislators to stay in power. Following the division of the house, it was revealed that it still enjoyed the support of 55 legislators while 32 voted against it. While all the BJP and JJP legislators voted against the motion, all the 30 Congress MLAs supported it.
Dissenting JJP MLAs support ruling alliance
Two JJP legislators, Ram Kumar Gautam and Devender Babli, who had been quite vocal in expressing their opposition to the manner in which the three contentious farm bills were passed, also voted against the motion. However, Babli expressed his resentment at not being allowed to speak during the discussion.
Also, while Haryana Lokhit Party MLA Gopal Kanda voted against the motion and in support of the government, an independent legislator from Meham, Balraj Kundu, voted in its favour. Declaring that he was not with the Congress, Kundu said: “I am not with the Congress party that moved this motion, but I am with farmers.” Four independents voted against the motion.
BJP, JJP, Congress issue whips
All the three major parties, the BJP, Congress and JJP had issued whips to their legislators ahead of the vote on the motion.
The numbers apart, the discussion on the motion provided the opposition a major platform to target the ruling coalition. The Congress and other opposition parties in the state, along with several farmers groups, have taken direct action against the BJP and JJP legislators – like picketing near their residences, waving black flags at them and disrupting their public meetings – to force them to demand the rollback of the three laws.
Rollback of farm laws demanded
During the debate, the independent MLA from Charkhi Dadri, Sombir Sangwan, who had withdrawn his support to the BJP-JJP government, insisted that the reason why BJP and JJP leaders were not being not allowed to enter their villages was that “these three laws have absolutely nothing good for farmers.”
He demanded that the house pass a resolution expressing the sentiments of the legislators on ensuring full compliance with the minimum support price and send it to the Centre. He said the MLAs were not coming out openly against the three laws for “various reasons” even though they believed these were “anti-farmer”.
Government trod cautiously on farmers, says Khattar
In his reply to the motion, chief minister Khattar spoke about how his government had shown restraint while dealing with the farmers’ protest. But, he cautioned, that its soft approach should not be construed for its weakness. He said that only limited force was used to prevent the protesting farmers from crossing the borders.
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal speaks on the No-Confidence Motion during the ongoing Budget Session of Haryana Assembly, in Chandigarh, Wednesday, March 10, 2021.
“The force was restricted to use of water canons and tear gas alone and lathi charge or use of gunfire was avoided. We did not lose patience even when they used huge mechanised vehicles to break the barricades,” he said.
Khattar also cautioned the Congress and others “fanning the protests” saying those igniting fires should remain cautious that the direction of the wind could change and the same fire could end up singeing them.
“The Congress party will continue to sink deeper. Your political future is about to end. Who all have instigated farmers? Who all are instigating protestors?” he asked.
Khattar also charged that the protests have caused the loss of thousands of crores of rupees to the state. He said the industries association alone has claimed to have suffered loss to the tune of Rs 11,000 crore.
The chief minister said he has not lost hope as there is a likelihood of the resumption of talks. Stating that the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) told the media on Tuesday that it has constituted a nine-member committee, Khattar said the talks should resume as a lot of loss is being caused because of the ongoing protests.
Also read: 100 Days of Protest: The Farming Community Has Already Gained Many Larger Outcomes
Incidentally, the SKM, an umbrella body of farmers, had urged people to mount pressure on the MLAs of JJP and BJP to vote against the Khattar government on the motion.
Khattar also commented on the protests disrupting daily life, saying, “where one’s freedom infringes upon someone else’s, it ends. Freedom has its own limits”.
‘MSP, mandis to remain’
On the issue of MSP, he assured that it will continue. “I give a guarantee that mandis will not be shut down and MSP will continue,” he said, urging the opposition to stop injecting a feeling in the farmers that they will lose their land and income if the three laws were implemented.
In his address, JJP leader Dushyant Chautala said the no-confidence motion showed that the Congress was feeling frustrated being out of the government. He attacked it saying it has “exposed” itself by first terming the farm laws as black laws and later admitting that it had made similar recommendations. He also asked, “Who gave land to Reliance after acquiring it?”
Before the trust vote, Bhupinder Singh Hooda had claimed that the motion would show which MLAs stood with the government and which were in support of the farmers. He had earlier also claimed that the coalition government in Haryana has emerged as “the biggest anti-farmer government in the country due to the dictatorial attitude towards the farmers’ movement”.