The politics of ‘Aaya Ram, Gaya Ram’ or revolving door exits, has returned to its cradle Haryana. The state’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government under Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini is now in serious trouble, as their strength was reduced with three sudden exits.
Three independents Sombir Sangwan, Randhir Gollen, and Dharampal Gonder have withdrawn support from the government. They have extended support to the Congress party in the state, reducing the incumbent state government to a minority.
The BJP has, meanwhile, claimed that there was no threat to its government. The state government has the support of two other independents. The Assembly has a current strength of 88.
Former Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had recently resigned as an MLA to contest the Lok Sabha polls from the Karnal seat. Former minister Ranjit Singh Chautala had resigned as an independent MLA from Rania to join the BJP and is now contesting the Lok Sabha polls from Hisar.
The crisis could not have come at a worse time since the people of Haryana will be casting their votes on May 25 to elect their 10 Lok Sabha representatives. This is to be followed by the state Assembly polls a few months down the line in October.
The BJP had won all the Lok Sabha seats in the last two parliamentary polls. However, repeating the performance definitely looks like a daunting task now. The party has to deal with this latest political crisis on one hand, and also face the farmers’ anger against its candidates on the other.
The Congress leadership has called for President’s rule and elections in the state.
The three independents made their decision public in Rohtak on Tuesday in the presence of former Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda and state Congress chief Udai Bhan.
"We are withdrawing support to the government. We are extending our support to the Congress. We have taken this decision on various issues including those related to farmers, inflation and unemployment.” Gonder reportedly said at the media interaction in Rohtak.
Meanwhile, Gollen reportedly said at the interaction, “We had given our support to the BJP government with honesty. But today unemployment is at its peak, and inflation and farmer issues are there.
“Every section of society is fed up. People are facing a lot of issues with Parivar Pehchan Patra (family identity card) and property identity system."
He claimed that the independent MLAs had also raised their voice against the BJP-led Union government’s actions during the farmers’ agitation. Sangwan said, “During farmers' agitation, we opposed their wrong policies. I also raised issues like inadequate staff in schools."
The three stated that they will work to help the Congress win all the Lok Sabha seats in the state in the ongoing Parliamentary polls.
Late night media reports said that the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) that had withdrawn support to the state government in March has also called for “toppling the BJP government” and has asked Hooda to “talk to the JJP leadership and the independents and stake claim to form the government.”
Hooda later stated in a tweet, “Today in Rohtak, 3 independent MLAs withdrew their support from the BJP government of Haryana and extended their support to the Congress party. Thanks to all of you for your support. ◆ MLA Somveer Sangwan (Charkhi Dadri) ◆ MLA Randhir Golan (Pundri) ◆ MLA Dharampal Gonder (Nilokheri).
“The right decision taken at the right time keeping in mind the public sentiment will definitely yield results. Today not only the public but also those who voted and supported the BJP are unhappy with the policies of the government.
“After the withdrawal of support by JJP and independent MLAs, the BJP government has now come into minority. Therefore, President's rule should be imposed immediately in Haryana and assembly elections should be held. BJP is going, Congress is coming.”
In the 2019 Assembly polls the BJP had won 40 of the total 90 seats while the Congress had won 31 seats. The JJP had won 10 seats while Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) and Haryana Lokhit Party (HLP) had won one seat each.
The remaining seven seats had been won by the independents. The BJP had gone on to form the government with the support of the JJP and the independents.
Bhan reportedly said, "I also want to say that present strength of (90-member) Haryana Assembly is 88, of which the BJP has 40 members. The BJP government earlier had support of JJP MLAs and independents, but the JJP had also withdrawn support and now independents are also leaving.
“Nayab Singh Saini government is now a minority government. Saini should tender his resignation as he does not have the right to stay even for a minute.”
Ever since the JJP came out of the alliance with the BJP, there has been a crisis within its rank as well. At present only four of its MLAs are reportedly working for the party candidates contesting the Lok Sabha polls while the remaining have been announcing support for the candidates from the BJP and others.
The BJP, meanwhile, shared a tweet carrying a video message from Saini’s media secretary Praveen Attrey where he said, “The three independents giving support to the Congress makes no difference.
“Even today the Haryana government has a majority and is fully secure. If you go by the figures the government has the support of 47 MLAs. Even if we talk from the legal and Constitutional viewpoint a no confidence motion cannot be brought about against the government because in the last assembly session the Congress had brought about a no confidence motion under the leadership of Hooda which was defeated. The law says that a no confidence motion cannot be brought about for another six months.”
Dr Sushil Gupta who is the state unit chief of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) stated, “They should resign on moral grounds. I request the state Governor to dismiss the government with immediate effect and call for immediate elections.”
The AAP is contesting the Lok Sabha polls in alliance with the Congress as an arrangement under Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (I.N.D.I.A.). It is contesting on the Kurukshetra seat with Gupta as its candidate while the Congress candidates have been fielded on the remaining nine seats.
The three Independent MLAs have written to the Haryana Governor informing him about the withdrawal of support from the BJP government. The two independents still supporting the BJP government are Nayan Pal Rawat of Prithla assembly segment and Rakesh Daultabad of Badshahpur.
The BJP had brought about a change of guard in March this year replacing Khattar with Saini to beat the anti incumbency being faced by the Khattar regime over the last almost ten years since the party came to power. This was similar to the experiment the party had earlier carried out in Gujarat and Uttarakhand successfully.
Another major reason for bringing Saini, a former state unit chief, was to rope in the Other Backward Castes (OBCs) votes for the saffron party.
The Congress had been replaced by the BJP after voter segments like the Scheduled Castes (SC) and OBCs had departed as its support base. Of late the SCs along with some chunks of the OBCs were returning to its fold. The Congress is the main challenger to the BJP in the ongoing electoral battle for the Lok Sabha in the state.