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No-trust vote against Khattar govt falls in assembly
The no-confidence motion brought by the Congress, the principal opposition group in the Haryana assembly, was defeated on Thursday after the Congress MLAs walked out of the House following a four-hour long debate.
The no-confidence motion brought by the Congress, the principal opposition group in the Haryana assembly, was defeated on Thursday after the Congress MLAs walked out of the House following a four-hour long debate.
The motion was anyway expected to fall as the ruling BJP-JJP alliance has 51 MLAs and support of at least six Independents and one HLP MLA in the 90-member House. However, since the Congress legislators decided to walk out of the House before the speaker could put the question and invite MLAs who were in favour or against the motion, the no-trust vote became an insignificant formality. Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda said that since the CM did not respond to the issues raised by party MLAs during the debate on the motion, there was no point carrying on.
This was the second no-trust vote brought by the Congress since March 2021. The BJP-JJP government had easily sailed through the 2021 no-confidence motion getting the votes of 55 MLAs out of 87 present and voting.
Earlier on Thursday, chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar said that Congress MLAs have already conceded that the no-confidence motion would get defeated as it was a number game. “Mehfil mein chal rahi thi mere qatl ki tayyri, charcha karte karte bole bahut lambi umar hai tumhari,” the CM recited a couplet to back his argument.
Khattar said when a no-confidence motion was brought in 2021, he had said that the opposition can bring such motions every six months. “At least, you will have to listen to us,” Khattar said.
The CM said that another session will be convened after this one and before 2024 assembly elections and the Opposition can then bring another no-confidence motion in the House.
“At least there was some seriousness and vigour in the debate during the 2021 no-confidence motion. Perhaps, the Opposition thought that with more than three years to go for the next polls this government could be toppled, and they have a chance to take over. But today it was quite a lackluster discussion,” Khattar said taking a dig at the Opposition.
At the start of the two-hour debate on the motion, Congress MLAs Bharat Bhushan Batra, Varun Chaudhary, Shamsher Singh Gogi, and Geeta Bhukkal trained their guns at the treasury benches. Congress MLA from Assandh Shamsher Gogi spoke about the ongoing farmers protest and sought a solution to the issues raised by peasants. Congress MLA from Rohtak Bharat Bhushan Batra spoke about slapping Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) against party MLA from Nuh, Maman Khan. Batra also objected to the appointment of an outsider as Haryana Public Service Commission chairperson. The Congress MLA also took a dig at Dushyant when he said that the JJP leader piloted the 75% reservation in private jobs for locals but cannot see how outsiders and non-Haryanvis were getting jobs in Haryana. The private sector quota law was quashed by the high court in November 2023.
JJP MLA Ram Kumar Gautam and deputy chief minister Dushyant Chautala got entangled in an exchange after the MLA made a remark against Dushyant
Congress MLA Varun Chaudhary said that as per the NCRB statistics, crime rate against women was highest in Haryana. “Kidnapping and abduction rate was also highest in Haryana. The crime rate against children and senior citizens was third highest in Haryana,” he said. Chaudhary said the debt liability in the state has seen a major increase since 2014.
The lone INLD MLA, Abhay Singh Chautala questioned the need of bringing a no-confidence motion as the BJP-JJP government has already lost the confidence of people long back. “It was because of your government that 750 farmers lost their lives in the farmers’ agitation. And again, the same situation is emerging. The government invoked UAPA in Nuh violence cases. What about the Gurugram case where an Imam was killed,’’ Abhay Singh asked.
Reciting a couplet from Ramayan, Congress MLA, Neeraj Sharma said that the government may be having the numbers but “we have the patience.”
In his response, Khattar said that omissions and commissions take place in every government. “However, it is the intent which is important. We took action if there was a malafide mistake during our rule. But such malafide acts were brushed under the carpet during the Congress rule,” he alleged.
The CM said that Congress has a “long history of scams” in the country. “So many land scams took place in Haryana. The AJL land probe, industrial plots allotment,” the CM said. When Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda objected, the CM said those who live in the glass houses should not throw stones at others.
Congress MLA Bharat Bhushan Batra asked the CM to respond to the issues raised by the opposition.
While referring to the upcoming state assembly elections, Hooda said that BJP should wait for another six months, and the people of the state will give them a fitting reply.
Several Congress MLAs, including Bhukkal, were riled at Khattar again quoting the selection of Bhukkal’s daughter during his rule. “I learnt that she had thanked me. She said had it been any other government then probably she would not have got the job,” the chief minister said. The CM said that he did not do a favour to her but was quoting this instance just to drive home the point that his government conducted recruitments on the basis of merit.
When Khattar referred to the discretion in nomination of non-state civil services officers to the IAS and the change of procedure effected by his government, Hooda intervened to say that if “the CM continues to speak without any basis, they have nothing to do with this.” The Congress MLAs led by Hooda then walked out of the House.
Deputy chief minister Dushyant Chautala said that it was well known that the Congress MLAs will run away from the House after making their point. The chief minister then asked the speaker that the no-confidence motion should be rejected unanimously. The speaker said that he will have to seek a vote from the MLAs for this.
