Amid the political turmoil in Haryana that has cast a shadow of doubt on the Nayab Saini government’s legislative majority, former chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Sunday said the Bharatiya Janata Party has the support of at least six of the 10 Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) MLAs.
This statement comes days after three of them -- Devender Babli, Ramniwas Surjakhera and Jogi Ram Sihag, reportedly met Khattar, in secret, at the residence of Minister of State Mahipal Dhandha in Panipat.
Surjakhera, the MLA from Narwana, and Sihag from Barwala had openly announced support to the BJP last week.
When asked about the number of JJP MLAs he met recently, Khattar said, “You know very well. We are in touch with many. But I can say with confidence that six of the MLAs are with us.”
On Saturday, Congress’ state in-charge Deepak Babaria had said that the BJP should present their MLAs before Governor Bandaru Dattatreya.
Reacting to it, Khattar, who is also the Karnal Lok Sabha candidate of the BJP, dared the Opposition to do same.
“They (Congress) are shying away from presenting the list of their MLAs sought by the governor. They must be nervous that they might lose four to five of their 31 MLAs. You have seen what happened with the JJP. Now they are stuck. They should have avoided raising the issue, but now we would ask them to parade their MLAs before the governor. If they have more numbers, then there will be a floor test in the assembly. On March 13, the new government won the trust vote and whether there can be another such test within six months or not, has to be legally decided by the governor or the speaker,” the ex-CM added.
{{/usCountry}}“They (Congress) are shying away from presenting the list of their MLAs sought by the governor. They must be nervous that they might lose four to five of their 31 MLAs. You have seen what happened with the JJP. Now they are stuck. They should have avoided raising the issue, but now we would ask them to parade their MLAs before the governor. If they have more numbers, then there will be a floor test in the assembly. On March 13, the new government won the trust vote and whether there can be another such test within six months or not, has to be legally decided by the governor or the speaker,” the ex-CM added.
{{/usCountry}}Khattar was in Gogripur village of Gharounda assembly segment as part of his door-to-door campaign that was also carried out in Assandh, Karnal, Indri and Nilokheri segments of the Lok Sabha constituency.
On the other hand, chief minister Nayab Saini, who was also in Karnal, started his day with Yoga at Atal Park, where is met locals during his morning walk.
Saini, the BJP candidate for Karnal bypoll, also started his door-to-door campaign at Choti Valmiki Basti of Model Town area with party leaders.
He also attended a blood donation camp at Shri Krishna Kripa Dham with Swami Gyananad and “Go Vaidik” programme by Hare Krishna Sangh.
Later, Saini also chaired an event to reach out to the Garhwal community of Uttarakhand.
On the Babaria’s statement, the chief minister said that he is ready to face the trust vote again, but the Congress should meet the governor with their MLAs first.