Haryana council of ministers recommends dissolution of Vidhan Sabha
To avert a constitutional crisis, the Haryana council of ministers led by chief minister Nayab Saini on Wednesday recommended premature dissolution of the state legislature. The dissolution was recommended to avoid summoning the House before the expiry of the six-month period from the last sitting of the assembly, a mandatory constitutional requirement.
To avert a constitutional crisis, the Haryana council of ministers led by chief minister Nayab Saini on Wednesday recommended premature dissolution of the state legislature. The dissolution was recommended to avoid summoning the House before the expiry of the six-month period from the last sitting of the assembly, a mandatory constitutional requirement. The last sitting of the state assembly was on March 13 and a session was to be convened before September 12. The state goes to the assembly polls on October 5.
As per Article 174 of the Constitution, the Governor shall from time to time summon the House or each House of the legislature of the state to meet at such time and place as he thinks fit, but six months shall not intervene between its last sitting in one session and the date appointed for its first sitting in the next session.
An official spokesperson said the council of ministers accorded approval to a proposal regarding the dissolution of the 14th Haryana Vidhan Sabha.
“The proposal will now be sent to Haryana Governor, Bandaru Dattatraya for approval. Article 174(2)(b) of the Constitution of India gives the Governor of a state the power to dissolve the state’s legislative assembly,” the spokesperson said.
Governor Bandaru Dattatreya is expected to prematurely dissolve the state legislature on the advice of council of ministers, a mere formality now, after completion of formalities. Saini, however, would continue as a caretaker chief minister, it is learnt.
Political experts said that BJPs lack of confidence and announcement of assembly elections on August 16 were two clear reasons for not summoning the House for a short monsoon session.
The state government’s reluctance was evident from the promulgation of a number of ordinances by the Governor on the advice of the Council of Ministers. Chief minister Nayab Saini had indicated that ordinances promulgated by the Governor, which are valid for six months, will be replaced with Bills tabled in the Vidhan Sabha when the new government is formed in October. The BJP government was under stress after three Independent MLAs – Sombir Sangwan (Dadri), Randhir Gollen (Pundri) and Dharam Pal Gonder (Nilokheri) who were supporting it backed out in June. With its post-2019 assembly poll ally, the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP), with whom the BJP broke ties on March 12, also deciding not to extend support to the government, the arithmetic in the state assembly had changed with the numbers for the BJP and its allies coming down. Leader of the Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda had demanded the dismissal of the minority BJP government stating that it needs to be dismissed by the Governor to stop horse-trading. Hooda had said that there was a possibility of some JJP MLAs defying the party whip to support the government in the House.
The announcement of the assembly elections also served as a damper as most of the political parties and their MLAs got busy in poll preparations. Political experts said by not summoning the session of the assembly or dissolving the assembly, the Nayab Saini government would open itself to criticism for violating the constitutional provisions.
